Suburban English learner classrooms adapting to meet needs of new Ukrainian and Russian students

As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, local school districts are adjusting the curriculum for English language learners due to the rising number of Ukrainian and Russian students moving to the area.

Whether it's hiring additional staff members who speak the languages or seeking community volunteers to help with translation, school officials are trying to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of students who have fled the region.

Administrators in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, where Russian has moved into the top 10 for languages spoken in ELL classes, are hiring two Russian-speaking teaching assistants. Elgin Area School District U-46 officials created a “Ukraine Newcomer's Guide” to help ease the transition for students and families.

Throughout the suburbs, ELL department leaders are navigating an unexpected path.

“With the current situation happening in Eastern Europe, our district has experienced a large increase in the number of newcomers to our district of Ukrainian and Russian descent,” said Traci Salek, the ELL coordinator in District 204. “This has put a strain on our staff members, both general education teachers and our ELL teachers, to provide instruction that is both comprehensible and at the appropriate grade level for both social and instructional purposes.”

In the 2021-22 school year, District 204 — the state's fourth-largest school district serving Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Plainfield — had 165 Russian-speaking students and 52 Ukrainian speakers. This school year, the number jumped to 245 Russian speakers and 85 Ukrainian speakers.

In U-46, there are 81 Ukrainian-language students and 46 Russian-language students. Libertyville Elementary School District 70, which has more than 2,000 students in its five schools, has two students from Belarus in addition to nine from Ukraine and Russia. Wheeling Township Elementary District 21, according to Superintendent Michael Connolly, has welcomed 93 Ukrainian students and 39 Russian students from prekindergarten through eighth grade.

“Newcomer students work daily with English language teachers on their English language acquisition, acclimating to a new school in a new country, social-emotional needs, and anything else they need help with,” said Robin Smith Kollman, director of communications for District 70. “We prioritize making our (English language) students feel welcome and safe.”

Griselda Pirtle, director of the U-46 Multilingual and Multicultural Education Department, said the district recently posted a job opening for a Ukrainian-speaking teacher at Liberty Elementary School in Bartlett, where 23 Ukrainian students are attending classes.

To build a comfort level, Pirtle said, the school's social worker formed a “Lunch Bunch” where all the Ukrainian-speaking students eat together.

“The social-emotional needs of our students are a priority in our district,” Connolly said. “As we welcome new students that may have been through very traumatic experiences, we use our internal resources such as our social workers, school psychologists, behavior specialists, etc., to ensure that our students feel safe in our schools.”

Hiring qualified professionals has been a difficult challenge. District 204, where 116 languages are spoken among 3,400 ELL students, increased its ELL staff to 95 from 90 in the last year and still struggles to meet demands. District 70, where 43 different languages are spoken, also added an ELL staff member.

Access to academic resources is another growing problem. U-46 received a grant to purchase more Ukrainian-language books, but distribution issues have slowed the district's progress.

“I am heading a committee of teachers, and we are working on putting together resources and some professional development for our ELL teachers to share with their building staff members on how to best address this influx of newcomers that we have seen,” Salek said.

“This is not a new situation, but I think given that the climate in Eastern Europe has really highlighted this, it's kind of at the forefront,” she said. “It's a great concern at many of our schools.”

• Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.