Serving the communities of Garland, Rowlett and Sachse, Garland ISD's family of three cities offers diversity in all facets, including income, language and background.
Memorial Pathway Academy's Newcomer Program focuses on language acquisition and academic content for newly arrived students in the United States who are non-English speakers or are at the beginning level of English language proficiency. The program accepts middle school and high school newcomers who have recently arrived in our district and meet specific linguistic criteria as determined by the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee process.
In the Newcomer Program, students are given highly-focused instruction in smaller class sizes, which allows for more interaction with the content and ESL-certified teachers. Students in the program are also given access to language, content and literacy programs such as Rosetta Stone, Imagine Learning, Imagine Math and English Discoveries.
The goal is to have students meet the state requirement of a higher proficiency level within a year’s time. This is so they will be equipped to move on to traditional middle schools or high schools after their first year in the United States.
Since its launch, students in the Newcomer Program have participated in state and national robotics competitions, held musicals, won district spelling bees and attended multiple community service projects. Some of the languages spoken by MPA newcomers include Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Amharic, Pashto, French, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Swahili.
GISD is dedicated to celebrating diversity and providing a nurturing environment for our English Learners. Learn more about the Newcomer Program on the district website.