Support and Resources

EL students have a higher success rate in school when parents and families feel at home in the community. The Office of Second Language Acquisition staff provides information about community resources, health-care services and social-service agencies that help non-English speaking families adjust. 

The Office of Second Language Acquisition helps to facilitate acquiring interpreters to help families with school-related meetings; understanding school-related procedures such as discipline, calendars, and closings; as well as completing school-related documents such as food-service, transportation applications and health forms.

The Office of Second Language Acquisition helps to support schools and CPS departments with obtaining interpreter/translator services for ELs and their parents/guardians. These services are available for the following: 

• General parent/teacher meetings or conferences
• School or district events (guest speakers, community programs, etc.)
• Team meetings (eg. IAT, 504, MFE, IEP) to plan, initiate, or discuss interventions or progress monitoring
• State tests
• Translation of school or district related documents. Many district and school general forms (field trips, tutoring, etc.) have already been translated and can be found here.

Cincinnati Public Schools use a software called TalkingPoints, which allows for text communication between staff and families in a wide range of languages. 

For more information about school districts' obligation to EL students and parents, additional guidance is available online.