At Besant Hill School, our highest value is the community which we share —students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and friends of the school. Our community is multicultural and multilingual. The language that we share is English, which is also our language of instruction in all classes except foreign languages.

Our approach to the instruction of English for students who are learning and using it as a second language is immersion. Students acquire English through classroom instruction and by using English as much as possible in their lives.

Each international student whose second language is English is assessed twice a year, in September and May, in writing, grammar, reading, and listening. Based on these assessments, students are placed in classes appropriate to their needs. We have two levels of classes: 1) the entry level/first year level, and 2) the advanced/second year level.

Students in entry level classes may take Reading, Writing, Academic Speaking and Listening, and ESL Science, in addition to math and music or art. Students in the more advanced level may take American Literature, Advanced Composition, Sheltered U.S. History, or English IIIS, a general English and literature course which focuses on grammar, writing, and specific ESL needs, as well as science, math, art, and music.

Our goals in the ESL Department are to help students improve their English in every way, to help them feel natural and comfortable communicating in English, and to support them in the achievement of their academic goals.


Tina Leslie Director of English as a Second Language Program