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Celebrating Achievements in ELD

with Archawin, Pumpui & Chomnaphat

The ELD (English Language Development) program at RIS is tailored to meet the specific needs of students at different ages and developmental stages. In elementary school, the majority of ELD support occurs in mainstream classrooms with support provided by ELD teachers in collaboration with homeroom teachers. RIS recognizes that one of the top priorities in a quality international education is the attainment of an academic-level of English fluency—so a student exiting the ELD program is always an accomplishment to celebrate! 

ES students Archawin, Pumpui and Chomphanat all recently exited the ELD program in December 2021 and talked about how they improved their English, what they liked about the program (and RIS), and also offered advice to their fellow students.

Congratulations and ad astra, Archawin, Pumpui and Chomphanat! Watch the interviews and read their parents’ reflections on their children’s ELD journeys below.

Archawin (Kungfu) Rattananavathong

We encouraged Archawin and discussed how important ELD is, and we are extremely proud of his achievement! He was successful because he focused and paid attention to his assignments, and we came up with short-term and long-term goals with his teacher. He felt so happy when he heard about exiting ELD, so a big thank you to his teachers Mr. Steve and Ms. Rachel for seeing his potential and suggesting to us how to best support Archawin! We know that RIS has quality educators with years of experience teaching and helping children. Not only is the school curriculum important but the support of the counseling team is important as well!” —Ms. Lalitta Rattananavathong (Archawin’s mother)

Kanoknooch (Pumpui) Kittiwongkorn

To support Pumpui, we helped her with her homework, spoke English with her, and watched movies dubbed or with subtitles in English. She has lots of passion for learning. We are so very happy and proud of Pumpui. She did her best every day with her reading and writing skills!” —Ms. Punnisa Kittiwongkorn (Pumpui’s mother)

Chomnaphat (Kate) Sripan

Kate (Chomnaphat) always tells me that she loves to go to school every day. I know that RIS has amazing teachers, and I’m deeply proud of Kate and her hard work for 3 years in the ELD program! I knew Kate could do it! I spoke with her in English at home, and in our free time, we did activities together that could help her improve her English such as watching movies and listening to music. She reads every day and her daily reading log was done very well! English is her favorite language, and she loves to speak it as much as she can!” —Ms. Wanvisa Khemthong (Chomnaphat’s mother)

ELD teacher Mr. Steve Liu with Archawin, Pumpui and Chomnaphat. “My goal is to provide the best teaching that will benefit all children,” says Mr. Steve. “I believe that students today learn differently and it is up to the teacher to find the best way to reach each and every child so they can reach their full potential. I keep the class student-centered and driven by their passion and curiosity.

Archawin, Pumpui and Chomnaphat display Head Hands Heart, RIS’ Principles of Phoenix student learner outcomes