Welcome to the BELLE newsletter! Through the newsletter, we will share resources, upcoming events, and activities led by BELLE partners and staff to keep everyone in the know. Though some of what we will include is not New Jersey specific, we are committed to sharing how the field is talking and thinking about DLL topics more broadly. Feel free to share the newsletter with others and ask us how to add friends and colleagues who are interested to our mailing list. Also, please be in touch to let us know what you have been up to so that we can share within this network! | |
UPDATES
In this newsletter we are excited and proud to announce our ⭐️⭐️⭐️BELLE Cohort IV ⭐️⭐️⭐️ partners for the 2024-2025 school year! Please join us in welcoming these amazing educators to our community of atrevidas as they begin their journey!
Also be sure to visit our new section, Job Opportunities, which will provide current opportunities for early childhood leadership positions accepting applications around New Jersey!
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My name is Emmelyn Cruz, and I am a preschool teacher at Jersey City. I am so excited to be part of this journey and can't wait to learn more about BELLE and how I can become a better educator.
Emmelyn Cruz, Teacher
Jersey City
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My name is Elizabeth Correa. I am an Early Childhood Teacher for the Union City Board of Education. As a PreK-k Bilingual educator, I want to understand my different language speaking students to help them communicate, learn and grow. Thank you for my acceptance into the BELLE program.
Elizabeth Correa, Teacher
Union City
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My name is Sandra Melian, and I am honored to be part of BELLE. I am proud to represent the Union City District. I am willing to learn new techniques that lead me to improvement as an early education Bilingual teacher in a multicultural city. I look forward to embark on a new adventure.
Sandra Melian, Teacher
Union City
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My name is Anna George. For 10 years I have been the only Bilingual Spanish teacher in our school. I am extremely excited to be a part of this Cohort where I can trade perspectives and gain insight with other educators working within the Latine community.
Anna George, Teacher
Keansburg Early Childhood Center.
Keansburg School District.
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My name is Giselle Buttler. I have been in Early Childhood for 20 years in the Passaic Public School district. I have been a Preschool Instructional Coach for the last 3 years.
I am excited to be part of the BELLE program and collaborate with all the wonderful Latina educators around our state. I look forward to learning how to best support our ML students, expanding my network of Early Childhood educators and growing as an individual and educational leader.
Giselle Buttler, Preschool Instructional Coach
Passaic Public School District.
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I am a Principal of School #24 in Passaic, home of 23 Preschool classes. I have been a Pre-K administrator for 17 years and have had the opportunity to learn and expand my knowledge of early childhood education among many talented professionals.
I am looking forward to participating in BELLE and to learning how to better support our multi-lingual learners. I am excited to work alongside one of the teachers from my current school and to bringing new information to our learning community.
Janet Drago. Principal
Passaic School District
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I am thrilled about the opportunity to join the BELLE team. Through this program, I aim to acquire new ideas, better strategies and valuable insights that will enabl me to better support the dual language learner in my classroom. My goal is to create an inclusive learning environment where every child can achieve their full potential.
Melina Sierra Teacher
Passaic Public School District.
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My name is Eileen Filpo and I am a preschool teacher for the Bergenfield Board of Education. I am excited to be part of BELLE Cohort IV and can't wait to learn alongside my fellow colleagues.
Eileen Filpo, Teacher
Bergenfield Public School District.
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My name is Vicky Abdel-Kader. I am an Early Childhood Education Teacher. I have been working in the Hoboken District for HOPES Head Start for 13 years. It is an honor to accept this invitation. I am excited to be part of such a prestigious group of leaders. I am really looking forward to learning and growing in the months ahead. Thank you for the opportunity!
Vicky Abdel-Kader, Teacher
HOPES Head Start, Hoboken
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My name is Francisca Alvarado, I have been and educator for 22 years at the Elizabeth Public Schools. Started as a World Language Teacher, K-8 Disciplinarian and now a preschool teacher for the past 14 years.
I am extremely honored and excited to become part of BELLE Cohort IV group. Looking forward to meet and continue our learning commitment.
Francisca Alvarado, Teacher
Elizabeth Public Schools
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My name is Diana Arboleda. I have been teaching for 18 years, 14 of which were dedicated to Pre-K classrooms. Presently, I am a second grade bilingual teacher at Rahway Public Schools. I am excited to begin this journey with the BELLE Cohort.
Diana Arboleda, Teacher
Rahway Public Schools
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My name is Anne Hazeldine. I have worked in the Keansburg School district for twenty years. I have been a preschool teacher, instructional coach, supervisor and am currently the Principal of Early Childhood Education. I am excited to learn how to better support multi-lingual learners and their families in my community. I am looking forward to being part of BELLE Cohort IV to grow my professional skills and capacity to promote change.
Anne Hazeldine. Principal
Keansburg School District.
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My name is Liria Caesar and I've been an early childhood educator for 19 years. As a multi-lingual learner myself, I have experienced the benefits that being multilingual has afforded me. I look forward to learning about all the ways I can work to support other multi-lingual learners and the educators who work with them, in and out of the classroom.
Liria Caesar, Teacher, Passaic Public Schools
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I am Yelena Milian, Preschool Instructional Coach for Union City School District. I have taught for about 20 years. Throughout my journey, I have learned that teaching is not just about academics. especially with little ones. It's about making connections with students, families and the community. I believe BELLE is the next step to reaching them more personally. "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-Nelson Mandela.
Yelena Milian, Instructional Coach.
Union City School District.
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Iy name is Glenda Rivera, I am a Pre-K teacher at Kids World in West New York. I have been working in this Early Childhood Center for 21 years. I am excited to be part of the BELLE Cohort IV group. Thank you for the opportunity.
Glenda Rivera, Teacher
West New York.
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My name is Jessica Moreno. I am a Pre-K teacher at Kids World in West New York. I am excited to participate in the BELLE program and expand my knowledge in order to help the children of our community
Jessica Moreno, Teacher
West New York
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I am Carolina Rivera, teacher/Director. I have taught for about 8 years working with infants, toddlers, and actually with preschool students. Working with little minds is the opportunity to teach them life lessons, useful skills, and important knowledge. Thank you for the opportunity to continue growing and be part of the BELLE family. Teaching is my passion and responsibility for the future.
Carolina Rivera, Teacher/Director
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My name is Lorena Salamanca, I work as a preschool teacher for the Rahway School district. I'm beyond excited to join the BELLE cohort. I can't wait to inspire young minds and foster a lover of language and culture.
Lorena Salamanca, Teacher
Rahway School District.
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My name is Elizabeth Conde. I have been in Early Childhood Education for approximately 24 years, 15 years were dedicated to having my own Daycare business. Currently, I am working for the Rahway District as a Preschool Teacher. I am looking forward to experiencing this journey with BELLE Cohort IV and I am excited to learn how to better serve our multi-linguistic communities.
Elizabeth Conde, Teacher
Rahway School District
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My name is Katherine Ruiz. I have been working as a site supervisor for HOPES CAP Inc. for the past 7 years and teaching since 2008. I am looking forward to participating in the BELLE Cohort. I have always been an advocate of teaching children in their home language and am excited to expand my knowledge.
Katherine Ruiz, Supervisor
HOPES CAP Inc.
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I am honored and excited to join a group of preschool educators in participating in this incredible BELLE's Cohort III opportunity. We will all proudly share our learning experiences, understand cultural differences, policies, and key research best practices. Most importantly, I look forward to building a strong professional network that will strengthen our knowledge, awareness and the importance of providing strong advocates for DLL and their education.
Adriana Birne, Director, Union City Early Childhood Program
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My name is Mykel Brooks, Director of Early Childhood Education for Rahway Public Schools. It is a great pleasure to join this year's BELLE Cohort. I look forward to learning how to best support our teachers as they work to best support our teachers as they work to best support our multilingual students.
Mykel Brooks, Director of Early Childhood Education for Rahway Public Schools.
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My name is Lauren Faccone, and I have been an educator in the Jersey City Public Schools for 25 years. I served as a pre-K teacher, preschool instructional coach, Early Childhood supervisor, and I am now the assistant principal of a pre-k through grade 5 school which has 7 pre-K classes, including one Dual Language class. I look forward to participating in this BELLE cohort to both learn how to best support the English Language Learners in my school, as well as how to best lead the teachers who are doing this work every day.
Lauren Faccone, Assistant Principal
Jersey City Public Schools.
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Also Accepted:
Siamely Rodriguez, Teacher
Children's Day, Preschool & Family Center, Passaic
Monica Rada, Teacher
Children's Day, Preschool & Family Center, Passaic
Mariluz Lopez, Coach/Master Teacher
Children's Day, Preschool & Family Center, Passaic
Eryn Casey, Coach/Vice-Principal
Elizabeth School District
Elizabeth Correa, Coach/Prekindergarten Techer
Veterans' Memorial Elementary School, Union City.
Michelle Saunders, Coach/ECE Supervisor
Hoover Elementary School, Bergenfield.
Yadira Triminio, Coach/Center Director
Kid's World, Inc. West New York
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Research
Read a policy brief titled Preschool Curriculum Use and Exposure to and Home Language and Culture: National Survey Results, by NIEER’s Senior Co-Director, Dr. Steve Barnett and Associate Professor, Dr. Kwanghee Jung about use of curriculum and exposure to home language and culture and how these vary by preschool settings and curriculum types. Findings indicate that Spanish-speaking teachers were more likely to expose children to their home language and culture and that practices were variable by curricula and setting type. Notably, it seems as well, that systematic guidance and awareness could improve these opportunities and why tools like the SESEBA and programs like BELLE are needed.
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RESOURCES
Are you a member of NAEYC? If not, now’s a great time! Check out the Teaching Young Children periodical for teachers, as their focus for Summer 2024 was "devoted to helping you address the assets and needs of children who are learning more than one language. You’ll find articles on creating learning environments and communities that draw on multilingual learners’ strengths and interests”. These publications are part of the yearly membership rate and provide lots of relevant strategies and ideas. Also, look 👀 forward to upcoming NAEYC publications where some of our very own BELLEs will be published this fall and presenting in the annual conference!
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In collaboration with NJ Department of Education staff and local school district leaders, BELLE leaders, Alexandra Figueras-Daniel and Elise Genao, embarked on a first round of deep data dives across the state to present preliminary findings of use of the Classroom Assessment for Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (CASEBA). This initiative is dedicated to enhancing the quality of language and literacy supports for all our young learners with a particular focus on DLLs. 📚🔍 We hope that these meetings will spark important conversations and create awareness about the need to better support DLLs in our classrooms. Stay tuned for updates and final study findings later this fall.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES- Click on the title to apply! | |
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES & LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Don’t miss out on this upcoming webinar on August 8th, hosted by Grantmakers for Education, Toward Language of Liberation in Learning Environments where Dr. Shantel Meek of the Children’s Equity Project and other panelists will lead a conversation on what it will take to support all children and youth for children to be fully supported to become bilingual.
The Children's Equity Project continues their webinar series on their collaboratively authored report, Operationalizing High-Quality Dual Language Programming where an August the featured webinar will provide a deeper dive on how to plan, implement, and evaluate the language allocation model of dual language immersion programs. Authors of the report will discuss what language allocation models should look like for infants/toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary-aged students. They also will discuss how to embed translanguaging, or the flexible use of languages, within traditional language allocation models. Don’t miss out!
Be on the lookout for our upcoming menu of PD opportunities for the 2024-2025 school year. We have lots of great plans that we are sure you won't want to miss out on! All will be featured in the August edition of Noticias!
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