I was twelve years old when I started to learn English in a school that offered English as a Second Language. While I greatly benefited from those years of structured learning environment, being immersed in the language as a student in England and living in the US are what made my spoken and written English improve exponentially. Hearing the constant banter of a life lived as you read and try to function in a different language forces your brain to shift gears. The foreign language starts to become more and more familiar. The combination of immersion and instruction makes mastery of a foreign language easier, faster and longer-lasting.
The ESL program at Maur Hill-Mount Academy strives to fulfill the instructional and conversational aspect of language learning. Our ESL teacher Addrianne Raplinger brings her cheerful personality into her classroom as she walks her students through the challenges of going through high school in a second language. Here is a short introduction to her and the ESL curriculum at MHMA:
Hi!
I would like to take a minute to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about the ESL program at Maur Hill-Mount Academy.
My name is Addrianne Raplinger. I have been an educator for 18 years. I received my Bachelors degree from Kansas State University and my Masters in Education from Benedictine College. I began my career teaching classes from 5th grade, to music education, and art education. Now, I am blessed to teach ESL, English I, and English II. Being part of the faculty at Maur Hill- Mount Academy has definitely been my favorite! I love our students, the richness of our school culture, and our diversity.
Our ESL program is a unique opportunity for international students to be immersed in our school culture and the English language, while also being given full ESL support.
Maur Hill – Mount Academy English as a Second Language Course Description
- Level 1 Course Description:
- Reading/Vocabulary A
- Writing/Speaking A
- Earth Science
- Introduction to Christianity
- Social Studies
- Math According to Placement Exam
- Level 2 Course Description:
- International Seminar
- Classes outlined by Mainstream Courses
- Mainstream:
- Students will be placed according to their transcript credits except for:
- English: students will begin with entry level (English I) unless input is given by both the ESL and English Department to do otherwise.
- If students enter MH-MA Junior Year, students will take English I and then skip to English III per Kansas Graduation Requirements
- In math, students will be placed according to their placement exam and the input of the Math Department.
* Although these are the course level progressions, we reserve the right to move students according to their achievement in keeping with the Graduation Requirements. This includes the potential grade of a student so they are able to graduate with the proper cohort group for their success.
Courses:
Reading/Vocabulary A:
This course focuses on reading comprehension, fluency, word recognition, and vocabulary. Students learn to read and respond to a variety of basic texts in English.
Reading/Vocabulary B:
Students will be challenged to extend their comprehension, fluency, word recognition, and vocabulary in order to better prepare for mainstream English classes.
Writing/Speaking A:
This course focuses on writing, vocabulary and grammar at a beginning level. Students learn to formulate simple sentences and ideas. They deal with basic topics such as family, home and self-interest topics. Basic sentence and paragraph structure is included. The expectation is for student to be able to write an original, independent, and formal essay of at least 500 words.
Writing/Speaking B:
This course focuses on sentence structure and essay construction for students learning English as a Second Language to prepare them to enter mainstream courses. Students are challenged to a higher level. The expectation is to efficiently write a 1,000 word essay independently.
Introduction to Christianity:
This class is designed for international and day students who lack an understanding Christianity. During this course students will learn about the basics of Christianity and Catholicism. Students will look at how Catholics worship, read from scripture and study how Christianity was established. We also discuss why people believe in God through proofs and understand the many traditions of Christians. This class will focus on vocabulary. The goal is for each student to have a mutual respect and understanding for Christian culture.
Introduction to Catholicism
This course is designed for international and domestic students to better understand the everyday life of a Christian. We will examine everyday decisions and how a Christian would respond. We will study the 10 commandments, beatitudes and virtues. We will example how these ideas apply with natural law. We will study the lives of saints and people in today’s society that exhibit great virtue. We will spend time in this course putting what we learn into action through service projects both for the school and community. The goal for this course is for each student to have a mutual respect and understanding for a Christian lifestyle.
Introduction to Social Studies:
This course will serve as a class to begin introducing students to concepts and terms that are regularly associated with topics in the social sciences. The class will cover topics in American History after 1865 (Reconstruction, Rise of Big Business, American Labor Movement, World War I, Great Depression, World War II, Cold War and other issues affecting the development of the United States over the past 150 years.
International Seminar:
Students complete speeches, debates and impromptus to prepare for listening and speaking sections of the TOEFL and regular education classes. Students will also complete comprehension activities over readings, oral, audio, and video recordings. There is an extensive focus on preparation for mainstream classes.
- We have established the levels of proficiency necessary at each grade level in which we are confident a student can succeed academically. Please remember that these are guidelines that are considered along with other evaluations. We provide the ESL program to help students improve their English skills and be successful in mainstream classes both in high school and college.
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