Mary Ann Dellinger

Background

About Mary Ann Dellinger

Over the course of the nineteen years I have been in Virginia, I have witnessed the increasing numbers of non-English-speaking families settling in the Shenandoah Valley. The growth of the new minority populations has brought richer diversity to our schools and afforded our children opportunities for new intercultural experiences. In these times of dwindling budgets, however, districts are too often unable to meet the language needs of these new students. Funding for additional staff and/or ESL training for in-service teachers is not readily affordable; hence, many school districts in Virginia remain non-compliant with federally mandated requirements for inclusion of non-English speakers. I founded Authentic Language Partners to help educators and districts succeed in meeting the needs of their LEP (Limited English Proficient) populations. My on-site and videoconference workshops are structured to help districts and schools design tailored ESL and community outreach programs by exploiting open source resources designed or adapted for language learning and using only the hard/software they already have on site. I take special pride in the development of outreach programs to Spanish-speaking parents and local Hispanic communities.