Close Menu Element

Mobile Search Element

Main Container Header

Upper Container

Search Element

Lower Container

jths logo white

Bilingual/ESL

Welcome to Joliet Township High School and the ELL Program. We are very excited that you are considering our program for your student. As a transitional bilingual program, our goal is to help our students excel in learning English while continuing their development in math, science, and the social sciences. In addition, our goal is for our ELL students to explore post-secondary career options by participating in electives, dual-credit, and Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
 
Students will receive services for as long as necessary and will continue to be monitored once they exit the program to maintain academic and social-emotional success. Our goal is to make sure that all our ELL students are successful being able to compete and contribute in an all English environment.
 

Program Description
Joliet Township High School services nearly 400 students in our ELL program each year with support coming from all stakeholders including administrators, teachers, counselors, support staff, and the Board of Education. 

We believe that an effective ELL Program consists of the following four components: 

  • Providing transitional support for newcomer ELLs.
  • Providing high-quality instruction and materials that facilitate deep understanding of the English language and content-area concepts.
  • Ensuring ELL students have access to the entire curriculum that emphasizes content learning as well as language acquisition.
  • Providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all our ELL students and their families.
     

JTHS Newcomer Program
The newcomer program is designed to provide transitional support for newcomer English learners. Not only do we want to provide curricular support, but also programmatic practices that are designed to integrate EL students and their families into a welcoming and supportive school community.

The newcomer program is aimed at:

  • Acclimating students and family to the United States and the Joliet-area community.
  • Aiding in acquiring community resources, i.e., immigration, counseling, medical, food, internet, ESL, library, etc.
  • Providing families with access to school resources such as free/reduced lunch waivers, internet hot spots, and technology training (Infinite Campus).
  • Guiding students and parents through the educational system by helping students navigate through their schedule, finding the cafeteria, locating their locker, and other tasks throughout the school day.

At Joliet Township High School, we are committed to providing all of our students with an equitable access to ELL programming so we are very excited to begin to offer our ELL Program at both Joliet Central and Joliet West. 

Our Hispanic students receive intensive English classes with the opportunity to take their core academic courses in their native language. This flexibility in scheduling also allows for our Spanish-speaking students to enroll in Heritage Spanish and/or AP Spanish Language to strengthen their native language abilities while also strengthening English-language acquisition.