Cal Poly BRILLANTE

December 3, 2025

Dear BRILLANTE Alums/Students, Families, and Partner District Partners:

We are writing to share an important update regarding the BRILLANTE Program for the 2025–2026 academic year.

Near the end of September, Cal Poly received a formal “Notice of Non-Continuation” from the U.S. Department of Education for our National Professional Development (NPD) grant that funds the BRILLANTE program. We were given a short timeframe to respond and submitted a Request for Reconsideration before the deadline. This week, we received official notice that our request was denied and that continuation funding for Years 2 through 5 of the BRILLANTE grant has been terminated.

As a result, we must formally discontinue BRILLANTE grant-funded activities. All BRILLANTE activities paused as of end of September, and we are unable to resume or implement any additional grant-supported programming for the remainder of the academic year. This includes planned support for undergraduate scholars, pre-service bilingual teacher residents, in-service educators, and the Learn by Doing Lab and Seal of Biliteracy activities scheduled with partner districts.

We want to emphasize that this decision was made at the federal level and not by Cal Poly or our partner districts. We know this news has real implications for our students, partner schools, and families, and we share your disappointment. Our team remains committed to the long-term goal of expanding pathways for future bilingual teachers on the Central Coast and Northern Santa Barbara County.

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the BRILLANTE undergraduate scholars, teacher residents, in-service educators, cooperating teachers, district leaders, families, and community partners who have shown such dedication to bilingual education. Your commitment to serving English Learners and multilingual communities on the Central Coast has been extraordinary, and we are deeply proud of the work we accomplished together during this first year.

Thank you for your understanding and for the care you bring to your students and communities. We will share any future opportunities or updates as soon as they become available.

Sincerely,
BRILLANTE Leadership Team

Cal Poly’s BRILLANTE (Bilingual/Responsive Instruction for Language Learners And New Teachers/Educators) program aims to develop and implement a Grow Your Own (GYO) pre-service teacher preparation program that will recruit and support 80 undergraduate bilingual scholars and 135 future bilingual pre/in-service educators to teach English Learners (ELs) on the Central Coast of California. The BRILLANTE program aims to provide essential financial, academic, and social support for undergraduate scholars, pre-service teacher residents, and in-service educators pursuing a Bilingual Authorization in Spanish.

El programa BRILLANTE de Cal Poly busca desarrollar e implementar un programa de formación docente en prácticas (Grow Your Own, GYO) que reclutará y apoyará a 80 estudiantes bilingües de pregrado y 135 futuros docentes bilingües en prácticas y en servicio para enseñar a estudiantes de inglés (EL) en la Costa Central de California. El programa BRILLANTE busca brindar apoyo financiero, académico y social esencial a estudiantes de pregrado, docentes residentes en prácticas y docentes en servicio que buscan obtener una Autorización Bilingüe en Español.

BRILLANTE has three core components for pre-service teacher candidates:

1. Financial support includes scholarships (up to $11,000 per year) to reduce financial barriers for Cal Poly teacher candidates pursuing a bilingual authorization in Spanish.

2. Academic support includes cohort-based learning, mentorship, and integrated coursework in a collaborative, empowering learning environment.

3. Social support includes peer and alumni networks, which provide opportunities for candidates to connect with others who share similar backgrounds and create a sense of mutual support throughout their journey as bilingual educators.

Contact: Dr. Briana Ronan (PI), Dr. Tina Cheuk (co-PI), Dr. Efrain Brito (co-PI), Sarah Hegg (Assistant Director) for more information.

BRILLANTE cuenta con tres componentes principales para los futuros docentes:

1. El apoyo financiero incluye becas (hasta $11,000 al año) para reducir las barreras financieras de los candidatos a docentes de Cal Poly que buscan obtener una autorización bilingüe en español.

2. El apoyo académico incluye aprendizaje por cohortes, mentoría y cursos integrados en un entorno de aprendizaje colaborativo y empoderador.

3. El apoyo social incluye redes de pares y exalumnos, que brindan oportunidades para que los candidatos conecten con otras personas que comparten experiencias similares y creen un sentido de apoyo mutuo a lo largo de su trayectoria como educadores bilingües.

Contacto: Dra. Briana Ronan (PI), Dra. Tina Cheuk (co-PI), Dr. Efrain Brito (co-PI), Sarah Hegg (Directora Adjunta) para obtener más información.