EL Master Plan Introduction
Governing Board
Leandra Blades, Board President
Todd Frazier, Board Vice President
Shawn Youngblood, Board Clerk
Marilyn Anderson, Board Trustee
Carrie Buck, Board Trustee
Superintendent
Dr. Alex Cherniss, Superintendent
Executive Cabinet
Dr. Olivia Yaung, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services
Dr. Issaic Gates, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
Gary Stine, Assistant Superintendent, Administrative Services
Richard McAlindin, Assistant Superintendent, Executive Services
Alyssa Griffiths, Director of Communications
Acknowledgments
The Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District English Learner Master Plan was developed with the support of district administrators, District Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs), English learners, English learner teachers, and parents from our District English Learner Advisory Committee. We deeply appreciate their support and guidance in the development of this plan. Beyond this, the 2023-2024 plan reflects guidance provided by the California Department of Education as well as the California English Learner Roadmap unanimously approved by the State Board of Education on July 12, 2017.
The development of this plan was led by Mr. Jose Cabrera, Assistant Director of Federal Programs, and the dedicated members of our Education Services Team under the leadership of Dr. Olivia Yaung, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services.
Dr. Elizabeth Leon, Director of Elementary Education
Mrs. Blanca Gibbons, Elementary ELA/ELD TOSA
Dr. Will Gray, Executive Director of Secondary Education
Mrs. Cameron Casteneda, Administrator of Secondary Education & Induction Coordinator
Dr. George Lopez, Director of Early and Expanded Learning
Mrs. Allie Lloyd, Assistant Principal
Ms. Karina Luna, McKinney Vento COSA
Mrs. Krisa Muller, Coordinator of Elementary Education
Mr. Jon Matson, ELPAC Testing /McKinney Vento TOSA
Mrs. Maricela Reyes, Bilingual Clerk II
Mrs. Sarah Riley, Instruction/Intervention TOSA
Mrs. Stephanie Vadez-Shrader, Title I TOSA
Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District is located in northeast Orange County, Calif. The district serves the cities of Placentia and Yorba Linda, as well as portions of Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton and rapidly developing county territory that reaches the Riverside County line.
The PYLUSD Advantage 2019-2024
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District has a richly deserved reputation for providing outstanding educational opportunities for our students. This has not come about by happenstance but through a steadfast resolve to hold the highest expectations for our students and also for ourselves. We are immensely indebted to our parents and community for the partnerships we have enjoyed for many decades in support of our students.
Having an unwavering commitment to better prepare our students for college and careers, our Board of Education engaged a wide range of stakeholders, which included parents, students, community members, business and civic leaders, and staff, to join us in developing a district strategic plan that will shape the future of our school district. Called “The PYLUSD Advantage,” this strategic plan serves as a road map, setting forth specific strategies that guide our decision-making to ensure that our students experience the advantage of an outstanding education.
We invite you to take a moment to read “The PYLUSD Advantage,” which is provided below. The booklet describes the direction that drives us, the reason we exist, and what we stand for as we embark on this exciting endeavor!
The PYLUSD Advantage 2019-2024. Student enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year is roughly 23,300. The District's 34 school sites include 20 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, 1 K-8 school, 4 comprehensive high schools, 1 special education school, 1 continuation high school, 1 TK-12 home school, and 1 K-12 online school.
Superintendent’s Message
As the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, we take great pride in being one of the leading school districts in Orange County. We understand and value the incredible diversity that enriches our schools and communities, and we are dedicated to providing all of our students with rigorous and relevant educational experiences. Our commitment extends to the promotion of biliteracy and bilingualism, recognizing that this effort not only supports the language development of our English Language Learners but also ensures their full and meaningful engagement in learning across all subject areas.
At the heart of our district’s Master Plan for English Learners lies the guiding principles of California’s EL Roadmap Policy, which serve as the foundation for our approach to creating and implementing programs that go beyond the classroom. It provides clear guidance to our dedicated school and district leaders, offering a comprehensive reference to the essential services we commit to providing our English Learners. In fact, our commitment to English Learners is deeply embedded in the systems we establish, the goals we set, the relationships we cultivate with our families, and the harmonization of our practices across all school sites and grade levels. These pages symbolize our unwavering dedication to collaborating and learning together as we pursue our ongoing commitment to our rich multilingual and multicultural student population.
Dr. Alex Cherniss
Superintendent of Schools
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
Putting Kids First
Statement of Purpose
The Master Plan for English Learners is based on regulations outlined in the California Education Code and Federal Guidelines (Office for Civil Rights), the requirements of Federal Program Monitoring, and changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and the principles set forth in the English Learner Roadmap for California.
CA English Learner Roadmap
The California State Board of Education unanimously approved the California English Learner Roadmap State Board of Education Policy: Educational Programs and Services for English Learners (EL Roadmap Policy) on July 12, 2017. This policy is intended to provide guidance to local educational agencies (LEAs) on welcoming, understanding, and educating the diverse population of students who are English learners attending California public schools. The California English Learner Roadmap: Strengthening Comprehensive Educational Policies, Programs, and Practices for English Learners (CA
EL Roadmap) builds on the EL Roadmap Policy and provides further guidance on educating English learners. The CA EL Roadmap supports LEAs as they implement the EL Roadmap Policy.
California’s Vision of Success for English Learners
English learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in a 21st-century education from early childhood through grade twelve that results in their attaining high levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade-level standards, and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages.
Mission
California schools affirm, welcome, and respond to a diverse range of EL strengths, needs, and identities. California schools prepare graduates with the linguistic, academic, and social skills and competencies they require for college, career, and civic participation in a global, diverse, and multilingual world, thus ensuring a thriving future for California.
Four Principles
Four principles support our vision and provide the foundation of California’s English Learner Roadmap. These principles are intended to guide all levels of the system towards a coherent and aligned set of practices, services, relationships, and approaches to teaching and learning that together create a powerful, effective, 21st-century education for our English learners. Underlying this systemic application of the Principles is the foundational understanding that simultaneously developing English learners’ linguistic and academic capacities is a shared responsibility of all educators and that all levels of the schooling system have a role to play in ensuring the access and achievement of the 1.3 million English learners who attend our schools.
In 2017, the California Department of Education published the English Learner Roadmap Guide (2) to assist local educational agencies (LEA) in implementing California's 21st-century college-and-career-ready standards, curriculum, instruction programs, and assessments. To guide our district vision, PYLUSD uses the EL Instrument Program Instrument, CA EL Roadmap Vision along with our district mission statement to ensure that our English learners and multilingual students are receiving high-quality linguistic and academic instruction. Holding high expectations and providing EL and multilingual students with the tools to utilize language as a resource for making meaning, PYLUSD creates opportunities for their ongoing success.
Four main principles provide the foundation for the English Learner Roadmap.
Schools are responsive to different English learner (El) strengths, needs, and identities and support the socio-emotional health and development of English learners.
English learners engage in intellectually rich, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that foster high levels of English proficiency.
Each level of the school system (state, county, district, school, pre-school) has leaders and educators who are knowledgeable of and responsive to the strengths and needs of English learners and their communities and who utilize valid assessment and other data systems that inform instruction and continuous improvement.
English learners experience a coherent, articulated, and aligned set of practices and pathways across grade levels and educational segments, beginning with a strong foundation in early childhood and appropriate identification of strengths and needs, and continuing through to reclassification, graduation, higher education, and career opportunities.
PYLUSD will be using the terms English learners and Multilingual learners strategically going forward: English Learner (EL) will be used when referring to obligations of Title III, and Multilingual learner will be used when referring to the asset-based approach the district takes for language learners. PYLUSD embraces the position that the multilingual learner designation provides recognition of students’ home languages as assets to their education while acknowledging that learning English is one particular aspect of their education.
Placentia Yorba Linda Unified English Learner Master Plan Overview
PYLUSD is committed to informing educators, students, and their families of their rights, responsibilities, and available resources while preparing English learners to embrace the challenges of the 21st century to become productive global citizens.
PYLUSD vision and the CA EL Roadmap vision are linked by their commitment to preparing all learners, including Multilingual learners, for their college and career choices.