Utah high schools touted for efforts to prep English-language learners for higher-level classes

OGDEN — Michael Medina, a Ben Lomond High School senior, has plenty of praise for his teachers.

Medina's instructors have pushed him in his efforts to master English, his second language after Spanish, and it's paid off. The student, originally from Mexico, has been taking a concurrent enrollment course on entrepreneurship, taught in English and geared to higher-achieving students, which will potentially allow him to get college credit.

His success "has a lot to do with the environment," Medina said. Sharon Emmert, who teaches a classroom of Ben Lomond English-language learners, including Medina, "pushes us a lot. She's kept me on track."

Medina and the other students in her class of multi-language learners, many of them immigrants, are as capable as any, Emmert maintains, and efforts to help them at Ben Lomond High, Ogden High and other schools around Utah seem to be yielding results.

At Ben Lomond, according to new Utah State Board of Education figures, around 70% of students from the class of 2025 took higher-level courses and earned a C or better or completed a technical education pathway program. That's higher than the statewide figure of 60% for multi-language learners, the term in Utah schools for students learning English as a second language.

"I have confidence in my students that they can all do things like this all the time," Emmert said. The higher-level courses include advanced placement, International Baccalaureate and concurrent enrollment classes.

At Ogden High School, 84% of multi-language learners in higher-level courses earned a C or higher. They surpassed the 60% rate of their English-language learning counterparts across Utah and even the 80% figure applicable to all students in such classes statewide.

Preparing multi-language learners for advanced coursework "stretches them and helps them realize they can be successful," said Shauna Haney, the Ogden High School principal. As at Ben Lomond, she said the efforts to help multi-language learners are tailored to their particular needs and meant to "bridge the gap" they may have with the student body at large.

Across Utah, Ogden High School was one of 12 schools where 80% or more of multi-language learners received a C or higher in advanced classes, according to the Utah State Board of Education. They were recognized by state officials earlier this year.

"We believe it's significant because it highlights schools that aren't just helping (English-language learning) students graduate, but are ensuring they have equal access to the most rigorous, college-level coursework available in Utah," said Ryan Bartlett, spokesman for the state agency.

Five high schools in Davis School District achieved what state education officials dub the "course readiness rate" of at least 80%, Syracuse, Clearfield, Layton, Northridge and Viewmont high schools, according to Bartlett. The others were Ridgeline High in Millville, Olympus High in Holladay, Park City High School in Park City, Spanish Fork High School in Spanish Fork, White Horse High School in Montezuma Creek and Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science, a charter school affiliated with Weber State University in Ogden.

Another 44 high schools around the state, including Ben Lomond, surpassed the 50% rate and were also recognized.

'Opens up opportunities'

Heather Gerrard, who helps administer advanced placement, International Baccalaureate, and career and technical education programs for Ogden School District, said that including English-language learners in higher-level coursework is a priority.

"It opens up opportunities. It also ensures that they are more prepared. Whether they end up going to the technical college after graduation or a university, they've been exposed to this level of rigorous coursework, and they know how to navigate it; they know how to be successful," she said. The district provides specialized professional training for teachers and works with counselors to promote the efforts, among other things.

The recognition Ben Lomond and Ogden High received, Gerrard said, is particularly significant because the schools have higher concentrations of English-language learning populations than some of the other schools recognized. At Ben Lomond High School, the figure is 19%, while it's 17% at Ogden High School, with Spanish being the first language for most of the students.

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"It takes a lot of intention and focus and monitoring in order to be able to do this because these students tend to not see themselves in these courses," Gerrard said.

The district's efforts are now focused on English-language learners with more advanced English skills, but she'd like to expand the initiative to those with more basic levels of English, including more recent arrivals to the United States. "Yes, we're excited, but also we're not done yet. We want to continue to close that gap and provide these opportunities for students," she said.

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