The Department of Language, Culture & Equity offers a number of services for various student populations in Poudre School District. We support immigrant, migrant and refugee students, emerging bilingual students, families experiencing homelessness, and students in need of after-school care.

Our department is passionate about PSD's mission of "Educate... Every Child. Every Day." We work to ensure that regardless of living situation, cultural/linguistic background, or any potential obstacles, every student in the district has an opportunity to learn and grow. 

 

 

Support Students Experiencing Homelessness

Eighty percent of the support PSD can offer students experiencing homelessness comes from community donations. You can easily donate through SchoolPay.  All donations are tax deductible. Please share this message far and wide, and the opportunity to give does not end now, this link will be live throughout the holiday season.  For more information about our program and this campaign, visit the McKinney-Vento Homeless web page.   

 

English Language Development

Students enrolled in the PSD English Language Development (ELD) program receive instruction based on both the Colorado Academic Standards and Colorado English Language Proficiency frameworks. Several ELD program options include indirect service, direct service, bilingual/dual language (Spanish/English at select schools), and Newcomer (at Lincoln & Boltz Middle Schools, and Poudre & Fort Collins High Schools).

 

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education

The McKinney-Vento Act ensures that all students who lack fixed, regular or adequate housing, including unaccompanied homeless youths, are afforded all the same educational opportunities as their peers. The PSD Homeless Education program works to remove all educational barriers resulting from their living situation that could hinder their enrollment, attendance or success in school.

 

Family engagement

The Family Engagement office helps support eligible students and families via our federally-funded Immigrant/Migrant/Refugee Program. We also have a dedicated team of Family Liaisons serving students and families throughout the district to offer additional linguistic and educational resources to students.   

 

After school programs

Poudre School District provides before and after school care for qualifying students at Title 1 schools and 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) sites throughout the year with the PSD After 3 program. We also partner with AlphaBEST and Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County for certain programs during the year and in the summer for Camp SOL.  Scholarships are available for qualifying students and families. 

 

PSD retention guidelines

Some teachers or parents/guardians may want to hold a student back a grade for a variety of reasons. PSD considers these requests following these guidelines.

 

Federal programs (Title I)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 was enacted to build upon programs established in 2002 by the No Child Left Behind Act. It provides necessary support to all students regardless of race, income, zip code, ability, home language, or background. Poudre School District utilizes these federal programs in a number of ways, including Title I funds, one of the largest areas of the ESSA.

 

Interpretation and translation

PSD provides interpretation services to events and activities for linguistically diverse families.  The Department of Language, Culture, & Equity also provides interpretation equipment to school sites to help facilitate communication to community stakeholders.  

Translation services are provided by one full-time person in the Spanish language.  Other languages are available upon request.  Our department has an established list of interpreters/translators available to schools.  Our primary languages are Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese.