July 19, 2021
On Saturday, the teachers and organizers of DK English School met for a celebratory dinner. Attendees included Dr. Deoksoon Kim and Dean Stanton Wortham from Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development, the Boston College teachers of DK English School, Fernanda Vera-Cruz, ELL Director at Fall River School District.
They discussed their experiences working with students from the Fall River District in the pilot program and upcoming plans for the summer program. Since students across the district are struggling with academic writing, the summer program will include a boot camp designed specifically to address writing difficulties at the third and fourth-grade level. DK English School teachers participate in weekly 2-hour professional development workshops on Saturdays to learn about structuring and implementing writing curriculum using an SFL (Systemic Functional Linguistics) approach. Students will learn about the purpose of each genre, read and deconstruct texts together, and create their own texts with audience, language, and other features of the genres in mind.
The event had delicious food and great company! It was clear that all people involved in DK English School is fully committed to prioritizing student needs and interests, and making learning accessible, fun, and engaging for students.
In the short three months that the program has started, the program has attracted 52 students from 4 different schools, 21 teachers from universities like Boston College, Harvard University, and Michigan State University. The program is in the process of expanding to high school students abroad as well!
The success of DK English School would not have been possible without the team of dedicated teachers and consistent support from district administrators like Fernanda. Thank you to the whole DK English School team, from the teachers, curriculum designers, to the family liaisons and media creation team for a successful first semester!