• Programs for Parents

    The Indian Prairie School District 204 ELL Program offers a variety of opportunities for parents of English language learners to be involved in their child's education, including: 

    Adult ESL Classes - Through a partnership with the College of DuPage, IPSD 204 offers adult ESL classes, free of charge, to parents in our district whose first language is not English. 
    Classes run in the fall from September - December, in the spring from January - May and in the summer from June - August. The classes meet 2 nights a week for 3 hours each night. While the parents are in the ESL classes, their children can attend Homework Club, where they can get homework assistance from certified ESL and/or Bilingual teachers and teacher assistants.

    Navigating the American Educational System (NAES) - NAES is a series of parent workshops developed by the DuPage Regional Office of Education to provide Spanish-speaking parents with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to interact with the school system and to better manage the academic experiences of their children. NAES workshops are presented in 
    Spanish. 

    Bilingual Parent Advisory Council (BPAC) - The IPSD 204 BPAC is an organization comprised of parents and educators of students enrolled in the district TBE Program as well as parents of students that qualify for ELL services in the district. The BPAC meets at least 4 times a year and participates in the planning, operation, and implementation of activities guided to help support our ELL community. It's purpose is to help parents with any needs, solve their questions, provide support, and provide community outreach through contacts and connections. The BPAC provides parent workshops throughout the school year on various topics as determined by the ELL Program Director and it's members. BPAC meetings are conducted in English with interpreters available in Russian and Spanish.

    ELL Parent Workshops - Parent Workshops provided by BPAC are open to all ELL parents. Workshops are conducted in various locations throughout the district, including some of our qualified bilingual buildings and the Crouse Education Center. Our workshops target a variety of needs such as; help with registration of immigrant families, resource fairs, technology support to navigate the district website and parent portal, etc. 

    State Bilingual Parent Summit - Each year the district sends at least four parents from the BPAC to the Statewide Bilingual Parent Summit. 

    Translated Documents and Resources - The district provides translations of ELL Program Documents as well as translations of many other district documents and resources including: 

    • Elementary Report cards and EDM Checklists
    • Registration Information and Forms
    • Assessment Notices
    • Elementary Curriculum Guides
    • Interpreters for Parent/Teacher Conferences to the extent possible

    For low-incidence languages, a note may be attached to important documents explaining to parents in their native language (to the extent possible) that the attached document is important and that they should find someone to translate it for them. With today's technological advances, most languages are translatable and interpretable online.