Mission

The Department of Multilingual Education (DME) in Framingham Public Schools (FPS) is committed to providing research-based, effective programs and exceptional instruction specifically designed to meet the diverse needs of multilingual scholars, representing over 70 countries and speaking more than 68 languages, making our community one of dynamic cultural and linguistic diversity.

We are  deeply  committed to ensuring that every student receives the highest quality of educational experiences. We achieve this through a range of language development programs tailored to promote both social and academic language proficiency, high academic achievement and sociocultural competency. . These programs are offered in Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin, French, American Sign Language, and English, with the aim of helping all students achieve mastery of grade-level content while simultaneously developing language skills that support their academic and social success.

This research-driven approach ensures that our multilingual learners thrive in an inclusive, nurturing environment. By focusing on the development of both academic skills and social language proficiency, we create pathways for students to reach their fullest potential, achieve academic success, and grow into confident, capable individuals. Our mission is not only to help students succeed academically but also to empower them to fully participate in a global society while honoring their rich cultural legacies.

Educational Philosophy 

• Multilingual learners’ languages and cultures are valuable resources to be leveraged for schooling and classroom life; leveraging these assets and challenging biases helps develop students’ independence and encourage their agency in learning.
• Multilingual learners’ development of multiple languages enhances their knowledge and cultural bases, their intellectual capacities, and their flexibility in language use.
• Multilingual learners’ language development occurs over time through meaningful engagement in activities that are valued in their homes, schools, and communities.
• Multilingual learners’ language, social-emotional, and cognitive development are interrelated processes that contribute to their success in school and beyond.
• Multilingual learners use and develop language when opportunities for learning take into account their individual experiences, characteristics, knowledge, skills, and levels of language proficiency.
• Multilingual learners use and develop language through activities that intentionally integrate multiple modalities, including oral, written, visual, and kinesthetic modes of communication.
• Multilingual learners use and develop language to interpret and access information, ideas, and concepts from a variety of sources, including real-life objects, models, representations, and multimodal texts.
• Multilingual learners draw on their metacognitive, metalinguistic, and metacultural awareness to develop effectiveness in language use.
• Multilingual learners use their full linguistic repertoire, including translanguaging practices, to enrich their language development and learning.
•  Multilingual learners use and develop language to interpret and present different perspectives, build awareness of relationships, and affirm their identities.

(adapted from WIDA’s Guiding Principles of Language Development, 2020)