The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) invited more than 2,000 students to the Reclassification Ceremony in April to recognize them for becoming proficient in English.
The California Department of Education classifies non-native English speakers based on their English fluency. When students demonstrate that they are fluent in speaking, understanding, writing, and reading English, they are reclassified as English proficient.
Between October 5, 2016, and October 3, 2017, SBCUSD reclassified 2,236 students from elementary to high school as English proficient, 19 of them first graders. SBCUSD honored the students for their hard work on April 21.
“Reclassification is a significant milestone for every English learner,” said Director of English Learner Programs Ana Applegate. “It marks the transition from learning a language to being fluent, and it signifies that these students are able to more fully participate in all of the opportunities this country and this community offers because they are not only fluent in English but bilingual. And, studies show that being bilingual, regardless of which languages you speak, provides advantages over speaking only one language.”