English as a Second Language

St. Anne’s-Belfield offers an English as a Second Language (E.S.L.) program for Upper School students.

Candidates for admission to the school and to the program must demonstrate at least an intermediate level of English on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). We offer two different levels of E.S.L.: high-intermediate (E.S.L. III) and advanced (E.S.L. IV).

Students are partially mainstreamed at the beginning level, but are not fully mainstreamed until they have reached an advanced level of English proficiency. The E.S.L. program is designed to prepare international students for the academic rigors of our Upper School and ultimately for college; thus an emphasis is placed upon the academic skills necessary for success in college. Although learning English and becoming a successfully mainstreamed student are typically the goals of our E.S.L. students, we expect our E.S.L. students to be fully integrated into the life of the school.

E.S.L. students are expected to participate in team sports, in the arts, and in clubs in order to develop their physical, creative, and social skills. We believe that making friends and learning about American culture are related intrinsically to learning the English language.