Glossary

ACCESS – Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners.  This is a state assessment given annually (usually in January) to monitor a student’s progress in English in four areas:  speaking, listening, reading and writing. Students are scored in each area. Scores range from 1 to a 6. A score of a six indicates skills on the same level as a native speaker.

Back-to-School Night – An evening during the first/second month of school for parents to follow their child’s schedule and meet his/her teacher(s) 

Conferences – an opportunity for parents to meet privately with their child’s teacher.  Each school has a different policy for parent/teacher conferences. Please contact the specific teacher you would like to speak with.

Curriculum – the topics and texts covered in a specific class.

EL/ELL  – English Learner (the student learning English)

ELE/ESL – English Language Education (the program that teaches English)

FEL – Former English Learner

Field Trip – This is a special event where children get to leave the school as a class to visit a location outside of school.  Parents will first need to sign a paper that approve of the field trip. Some field trips require the parents to pay a fee. The school may ask for parents to drive and/or to help watch the children during the field trip to keep them safe. This is called being a chaperone. Some field trips are in-school field trips.

MCAS – Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. Students take the MCAS exam in grades 3 - 8 & grade 10. Parents will be notified of the MCAS schedule prior to testing.

PTO – Parent Teacher Organization. The PTO is a group of parents who volunteer their time to arrange fun activities for kids and to help raise money for the school.  Some parents serve as officials, and organize events. Other parents volunteer to help with one activity. You can decide how much to help. They are always wanting volunteers! 

SEI – Sheltered English Immersion. This is an English language acquisition model for students in which nearly all classroom instruction is in English but with the curriculum and presentation designed for students who are learning the language. Texts and instruction materials are in English.

Signup Genius – A website for middle school parents that allows parents to sign up for conferences with specific teachers during the first Wednesday of the month.

Webtrac – A web-site for middle and high school parents to sign up their child for a specific field trip.  Parents must sign a permission form. Some field trips require a fee.