Ogden High IB Language Policiy

OHS IB Language Policy

Language Philosophy

The mission of Ogden High School is to create a professional learning community dedicated to academic excellence. We provide and support rigorous academic, cultural, college and career-readiness experiences for every student. We challenge, empower, and inspire students to become contributing global citizens and life-long learners.

Ogden High boasts a diverse student population of 1,100 students with English as the main language of instruction. Approximately 54% of our students identify as racial/ethnic minority and 64% are low socio-economic. 20% of our student population are English Language Learners. All students have access to high-quality coursework in English as well as the opportunity to study Spanish. Our English Language Learners (ELL) are supported in their content classes with appropriate scaffolds and supports from both the content teachers and the ELL program.

We understand language and literacy are critical to student success. As such, it is the responsibility of all teachers to provide ways in which students can learn the vocabulary and language skills of their content necessary to be successful. As such, all teachers are language teachers.

Mother tongue languages help form cultural and personal identity. Accordingly, it is important to respect and celebrate the linguistic diversity of our students. The collaborative experience of learning another language encourages common ground among students from diverse backgrounds and promotes international mindedness.

Language Profile

The language of instruction at Ogden High School is English. Ogden High comprises 10-12th grade. 9th grade students attend the local junior high schools, however, their courses and grades are considered high school courses and count towards their graduation requirements. OHS has a linguistically and culturally diverse student body and the home languages change with our student demographics and enrollment, but has included English, Spanish, French, German, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, Swahili, Tagalog, Samoan, Urdu, Kinyarwanda and Arabic.

Support of Mother Tongue Languages

The language of instruction at Ogden High is English however many scaffolds are given to students. District bulletins, websites and other publications are available in English and Spanish. Teachers and staff can request any document to be translated through our district translating team. Families, students and staff can request in person translation help as well. The district provides a translation service, Propio, with availability of support in many languages. 

Support of Language Instruction

English is the language of instruction at Ogden High School. Ogden High supports language acquisition for all students in the following ways:

• • Access to translators

  • MLL specific classes

  • Sheltered instruction in all classes to scaffold vocabulary and content

  • Collaborative learning experiences

  • School wide implementation of Avid literacy strategies & regular MLL professional development

  • A wide variety of literature and content from a variety of cultural backgrounds

  • Access to leveled texts in English Language Arts classes

  • Access to library materials and encouraging all students to read for enjoyment

  • Providing differentiated instruction for all students to provide an appropriately rigorous educational experience

  • Assessing students regularly in a variety of modalities

  • Placing MLL students in appropriate content classes based on their WIDA scores and other appropriate data

  • All Ogden School District teachers must earn their ESL(English as a Second Language) Endorsement within the first four years of employment

  • Policies & other official documents translated into Spanish (and other languages upon request)

  • Ogden High supports Spanish Dual Immersion

  • Seal of Biliteracy

Policy Use and Review

Ogden High School’s IB Language Policy is a working document that guides teacher practice and further student development as balanced, whole learners. It will be reviewed and revised yearly, or as necessary, by the school’s pedagogical leadership team (administrators, IB Coordinator, department heads, and interested teachers).