In the San Mateo Union High School District  (SMUHSD) we understand the success of our English Learners is the collective responsibility of all educators in partnership with our families and communities. The SMUHSD is committed to providing our English Learners a rigorous and relevant academic education and the socio-emotional support they need to be engaged in our schools and graduate college and career ready. We value the rich cultural and linguistic diversity English Learners bring to our schools and community, and believe in using culturally responsive practices to respect and affirm the language and culture of each student. We are proud of the diversity that our English Learners (ELs) add to our school communities.

We have students from a vast number of countries that speak a diverse numbers of languages. Their cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds enrich our school communities. We are committed to fully integrating and educating our English Learners and their families in our schools.

ELD council vision:  Our vision is to prepare English learners  for both high school and post-high school success through the development of English literacy , academic identity, and critical thinking skills.

The DELAC vision is that our English Learner students are loved, supported, understood, and successful in our schools.

Curriculum Framework
ELA/ELD Framework

Our English Language Development courses have been recently revised and adopted to reflect the 2012 California adopted English Language Development standards and 2014 California adopted English Language Arts/English Language Development framework. We offer three levels of English Language Development: English Language Development 1 for emerging English Learners, English Language Development 2 for expanding English Learners, and English Language Development 3 for bridging English learners. All students in English Language Development 1 to 3 take two periods of English Language Development - one period is Integrated English Language Development, for which they receive English credit, and the other is Designated English Language Development, which focuses specifically on language development. The San Mateo Union High School District uses common placement and semester assessments to across our sites to validate a student’s placement and assess their readiness for advancement to the next course.

• English Language Development 1
  • The course is designed to introduce students to English via the four domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking/by Interacting in Meaningful Ways (Part I of English Language Development standards) and Learning How English Works (Part 2 of English Language Development standards) in order to demonstrate language proficiency at the expanding level based on the ELD II descriptors.
• English Language Development 2
  • Students in English Language Development 2 are at the expanding stages of English development. Throughout the year,students will develop and/or improve their understanding of the English language with a specific focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking/by Interacting in Meaningful Ways (Part 1 of English Language Development standards) and Learning How English Works (Part 2 of English Language Development standards) in order to demonstrate language proficiency at the bridging level based on our English Language Development 3 descriptors
• English Language Development 3

  • Students in English Language Development 3 are at the bridging stages of English development. Throughout the year, students will improve their understanding of the English language with a specific focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking by Interacting in Meaningful Ways (Part 1 of English Language Development standards) and Learning How English Works (Part 2 of English Language Development standards) in order to demonstrate language proficiency at the mainstream level based on our Mainstream descriptors.