As of October 2022, there were 3,128 students enrolled in the Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 with 116 identified as multilingual learners.

The Cheyenne Mountain School District assesses multilingual earners’ English proficiency annually using the ACCESS for ELLs.  The ACCESS for ELLs uses a scale of 1-6 with level six indicating the highest level of English proficiency. Students with an overall score between 1.0 and 2.4 are considered Non-English proficient (NEP). Students with an overall score between 2.5 and 3.9 are considered Limited English Proficient (LEP), and students with an overall score of 4.0 or above are Fluent English Proficient (FEP). Once students have reached fluent English proficiency and show grade level proficiency in reading and writing, they exit the program. Students who have completed the English language program are considered to be Former English Language Learners (FELL).  

There are twenty-six languages spoken by our multilingual learners with Spanish representing 44% of the total. Chinese-Mandarin (6.8%), Dari (6.8%), Korean (5%) are the other most occurring languages spoken by our multilingual learners in CMSD.

These principles apply to acquiring another language:

• Language is learned by using language

• The focus in language learning is meaning and function (not form)

• Successful language learning is non-stressful, meaningful, concretely-based and comprehensible

• Language is self-directed, not segmented or sequenced

• Conditions necessary for language acquisition essentially are the same for all children
  

There are stages that language learners experience when acquiring another language. These stages may overlap and growth may occur at different rates. Language learners usually progress through the first three stages quickly, while spending years in the intermediate and advanced stages.

Silent/Receptive NEP 1—The student does not respond verbally in a second language, although the student is processing information they receive in the second language.

Early Production NEP 2—Students begin to respond verbally using one or two words and develop the ability to extract meaning from things spoken to them.

Speech Emergence LEP 2.4—Students begin to respond in simple sentences when they feel comfortable with the situation and understand what is being said.

Intermediate Fluency LEP 3—Students gradually transition to more elaborate speech.

Advanced Fluency FEP 4-6—Students participate in conversations without needing cues and can contribute their own personal narratives.