Maria H. Arambula-Ruiz

Director

(956) 473-2113

marambul@uisd.net

Bilingual Education

United Independent School District is committed to all emergent bilingual students’ language and academic needs. Through collaborative partnerships with district/campus administrators, teachers, and parents, the goal is to grow successful bilingual and bi-literate students.

Mission

All emergent bilingual (EB) students will become proficient in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the English language through the effective integration of second language strategies in the development of literacy and academic skills.

Program Models

The Early-Exit Transitional model builds on the emergent bilingual (EB) student’s primary language and strengthens the English skills to prepare the student for success in English-only instruction no earlier than two or later than five years after the student enrolls in school.

The DUAL Two-Way model is offered to emergent bilingual (EB) students and English Proficient (EP) students. The DUAL Two-Way model builds upon the student’s primary language while adding a second language (English/Spanish or vice-versa). The goal is to develop bilingual, bi-literate, and bicultural students. In United I.S.D., this model begins in Kinder and concludes in 5th grade. The program model is offered at select schools.

The ESL Pull-Out model serves students identified as emergent bilingual (EB). The model targets English language development through academic content instruction that is linguistically and culturally responsive in English language arts and reading. Instruction is provided in a pull-out or inclusionary delivery model.

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There are 27 languages represented in United I.S.D. They are 65% Spanish, 35% English, 0.1% Vietnamese, 0.05% Mandarin (Chinese), 0.032% Arabic, 0.03% Turkish, 0.027% Pilipino (Tagalog), 0.017% Cantonese (Chinese), 0.01% Korean, 0.01% Hindi, 0.005% Bengali, 0.005% Ibo (Igbo), 0.005% Nepali, 0.005% Portuguese, 0.005% Telugu (Telegu), 0.002% Cambodian (Khmer), 0.002% Japanese, 0.002% Afrikaans (Taal), 0.002% Amharic, 0.002% Farsi (Persian), 0.002% Hebrew, 0.002% Russian, 0.002% Shona, 0.002% Thai, 0.002% Ukrainian, 0.002% Urdu, and 0.03% Other languages.

Department Staff

	Name	Position	Email	Phone
	Veronica Brown	LPAC Compliance Coordinator	vabrown@uisd.net	(956) 473-2001
	Dr. Sandra Higareda	LPAC Compliance Coordinator	shigareda@uisd.net	(956) 473-2055
	Michele Garza	Elementary Bilingual Coordinator	michelet@uisd.net	(956) 473-2133
	Guadalupe Aguiar	Secondary Bilingual Coordinator	gaguiar@uisd.net	(956) 473-1817

Office Staff