It's hard to learn when you don't speak the language.
That's the truth behind the English Language Learner program in the Fulton school district, available to those who need it from kindergarten to graduation.
"These kiddos speak or are exposed to a second language at home and need some extra support," said Karrie Millard, director of special services and federal programs.
She gave a presentation on the ELL program at Wednesday evening's school board meeting.
Since the previous school year, the number of students enrolled in the program has doubled from seven to 14, Millard said.
Each student's parents must fill out a survey about languages spoken at home, and teachers are on the alert for signs English isn't a student's only language. When those students are spotted, they are assessed to determine their proficiency at listening to, speaking, reading and writing English. Students scoring at a certain level join the program.
"When we identify these kiddos, they have access to a teacher for extra tutoring," Millard said.
That ELL intervention teacher is Lindsey Dyro. She spends 35 minutes with each student in the program, four days a week. This year, she's working with students who speak Spanish, Chinese and Kinyarwanda.
"I try to pull them out of class separately," Dyro said.
She focuses on the kind of content students are learning in their classes. She can also help the students with accommodations when necessary - providing dictionaries in English class or extra time on tests, for example.
Each year, Millard said, students in the program take the ACCESS test, which measures if they've gained enough English proficiency to leave the program.
"We also encourage parents to teach their kiddos how to read, write and speak their home language," Millard said.
In other words, the district doesn't aim to eliminate the students' mother tongues - it wants to help them speak English equally well.