In 1980, the first newcomer center in the Napa Valley Unified School District opened at Silverado Middle School. The center -- which looks from the outside like just another classroom -- wasn't just for teens new to the school. It was for people new to the country.

Twenty-seven years later, the district has five newcomer centers, with at least one each at the elementary, middle and high school levels. The centers are key to the district's effort to serve more than 4,000 students classified as English Learners -- students who have limited English skills.

English learners comprise about one out of every four students in local public schools.

In just a 10-year period, the number of English learners enrolled in the Napa school district has nearly doubled. In 1995, the district had 2,187 EL students; a 2003 count showed a peak of 4,500 EL students. The numbers have fallen slightly in the past four years, and the latest count shows there are 4,129 ELs.

Napa is not alone in dealing with English learners. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there were more than 5 million English learners in the U.S. in the 2004-05 school year. California alone has nearly 1.6 million English learners, more than double the number of any other state.

The population includes children born in the U.S. into immigrant families and immigrant children -- both legal and illegal -- from Latin American countries, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and elsewhere.

In Napa, an overwhelming majority of English learners are Mexican, either by heritage or birth. Others come from Central American countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador. Many English learner parents work in the wine industry, often as campesinos -- field workers.

Legal status and access

Whether students and their families are in the country legally is of no consequence to the schools. According to a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision, a public school cannot ask a student for his or her immigration status; districts must teach whomever is in their class and cannot turn away a student.

In Plyler v. Doe, the court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits states from excluding undocumented children from public schools. An effort to allow California schools to deny a public education and other privileges to undocumented students, part of the controversial 1994 voter initiative Proposition 187, was blocked in the courts.

The school district's latest newcomer center, which opened in 2003, is at Napa High. This center serves a difficult population: students who not only are new to the country and the English language, but are also working nearly full-time to help their families. Many times these students are separated from their immediate families, living with extended family or other young immigrants.

Teachers at the elementary, middle and high school level say one of the obstacles to reaching English learners is that a significant number of them are illiterate or limited in their primary language. Instead of just jumping into English lessons, teachers must establish a foundation in the native language.

"We're not just teaching English, it's teaching literacy," said Charlotte Ford-Gray, the school district's coordinator of English learner services.

The district's philosophy is to teach English while helping to retain a student's first language. They point to research showing students who speak more than one language become higher achievers than monolingual students. Elena Toscano, district assistant superintendent of instructional services, said the district wants its English lessons "to be an additive, not subtractive, process."

Children in California public schools speak more than 50 languages, while in Napa Valley Unified there are at least 32 different languages represented. About 95 percent of the English learners in the district are Spanish speakers, but other languages include Punjabi, Mandarin, Russian, Greek and French.

American Canyon has the most diverse schools of any in the district, with the most languages heard there.

For educators, the ultimate goal with an English learner is to get the student redesignated -- placed into mainstream English classes -- as soon as possible. Napa district officials and researchers from Cambridge University and Stanford University state this process takes, on average, five to seven years.

When students who speak another language besides English at home enroll in a public school, their English skills are tested and the students are ranked somewhere between beginning and advanced. When a student reaches what the state department of education calls a "reasonable level of proficiency" on the California English Language Development Test, and after a teacher evaluation and consultation with parents, the student can transfer from English learner classes to mainstream classes.

Teachers say a child's success in English depends heavily on the student's academic background when entering an American school. Some English learners come with a strong academic background, with experience at a good private or public school. Some have never taken a class before enrolling in a Napa school.

Middle school teachers in Napa say in addition to teaching vocabulary and pronunciation, they must instruct students on how to organize a backpack and take notes during class.

Noticing a trend of more and more English learners, the school district decided to require teachers to be trained in EL instruction in 1996, well before it became a state mandate.

Now, the state requires teachers to be trained to teach English learners. All district teachers are certified to teach ELs, except for interns, who after their earning their credential, will also be authorized to teach ELs.

Mainstream success

Steadily, over the past decade, the school district has quickened the pace of shifting English learners into mainstream English classes. In 1996, the district moved 2.6 percent, or 56 English learner students, into mainstream courses. This year, the district redesignated about 15 percent of the English learner population, or 605 students. For several years, school district redesignation rates have surpassed those of the county and state.

Ford-Gray said she attributes this success to a clear focus on English learner needs and using proven teaching practices, such as "pre-teaching" vocabulary words before a general lesson, using visual aids and pressing students to speak and actively participate in class. Also, the schools provide new resources, such as special textbooks and more bilingual school staff.

The district raised its expectations for EL students, she said. "There's a district-wide effort in everyone (taking responsibility for) all the kids."

Four of the 22 elementary schools in the school district -- Napa Valley Language Academy, McPherson, Pueblo Vista and Shearer -- offer classes in Spanish. Because public school regulations mandate that most public school instruction is in English, the only way these schools can offer bilingual instruction is to become charter schools or to obtain waivers from parents.

'No Child' pressure

Administrators are under a variety of pressures to focus on English learners. These students make up a sizable portion of the school population. There are also the standardized tests mandated by state law and the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- tests by which entire schools and school districts are measured.

Under No Child, for example, schools failing to meet academic goals face a range of changes from imposition of new instructional models to a forced change in administrative leadership.

For district Superintendent John Glaser, this combination is not a formula for fear, but a motivation to shift in gears.

"The number of English learners is not as much a factor," he said. What's more important is that No Child's high accountability ensures rigorous teaching and learning in the classroom. "This has helped us to sharpen our focus on the success of every student, which has always been our priority."

While English learners need special resources -- from different textbooks to bilingual staffers -- Glaser said those students also bring resources into the district. The California Department of Education and the federal government offer supplementary funds for ELs and newcomer centers.

According to Debbie Brenner, district assistant superintendent of business services, the district received $1.59 million for English learners in the 2006-07 year. The schools' overall budget exceeds $118 million.

Because of the increase in students moving to mainstream classes, the school district English learner population is slowly decreasing. Every year, though, there are new students added to the group, at nearly every grade level.

The grade level seeing the most English learners is kindergarten. Last year, about 14 percent of the district's English learners -- 556 students -- were in kindergarten. Nearly all were Spanish speakers.

EL students and the challenge they pose are here to stay.

"It's about instruction and about giving students what they need to be successful in school," Toscano said. "We have an obligation to society that those students leave our system literate."