Meet our ESOL Team!

Ms. Huret

This Ms. Huret's third year teaching ESOL. She provides services to students in grades 3-8. Prior to teaching ESOL, Ms. Huret taught 4th grade at Pennington for 8 years, and 5th grade for 3 years before that. She began her teaching career in 2000 teaching language arts at the secondary level in California, which is where she also earned her ESOL endorsement. She has a Masters in Curriculum and Development, with a specialty in Educational Leadership, from George Mason University. Ms. Huret really enjoys teaching ESOL students in a small group setting, building relationships with the kids, Pennington families and her Pennington family. She especially loves seeing her students grow each year physically, academically and emotionally. 

In her free time, Ms. Huret enjoys Pilates, traveling, doing arts and crafts or small DIY projects, reading, and comedy. She especially enjoys spending time in California, her home state, with her family and friends at least twice a year. To contact Ms. Huret, please email her at [email protected].

Mrs. Walls

Mrs. Walls is the newest ESOL Specialist at Pennington and will provide services for 1st and 2nd grades. Though this is her first year as a Pennington teacher, she is not new to us as she has two daughters who attend and has been a well-respected substitute in the past. Mrs. Walls’ previous educational experience was at Innovation Elementary School where she provided education to students in many grade levels by focusing on specific Math and Reading standards of learning. She also spent part of her summer as a Russian Camp language instructor sponsored by NSA in Prince William County. 

Mrs. Wall is originally from Belarus in Eastern Europe, and herself was a second language learner of English, both in school and college.  Mrs. Walls’ passion for language and cultures led her to earn her ESOL certification. She loves working with students from different cultures, as well as building relationships with parents/guardians in order to help the students achieve their full potentials using the English language in the United States. In her free time, Mrs. Walls enjoys spending time with her husband and daughters, traveling, cooking, gardening, reading and hiking and camping. To contact Mrs. Walls, please email her at [email protected]. 

What is ESOL?

English Students of Other Languages, or ESOL, is a specialty program in Prince William County Public Sschools for students whose primary language at home is something other than English. After parents register their child(ren) in a Prince William County school, students who speak languages other than English at home are automatically rerouted to the Global Welcome Center for an English assessment to determine the student(s) eligibility to receive ESOL services.

At Pennington, due to the small population of ESOL students, students are either pulled from their regular classroom to receive services or they receive them within the class by a certified ESOL teacher. Whether a student receives pull-out, or push-in services is based on the students' grade and ESOL levels.

In ESOL classes, there are four domains of focus in English: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking.  Each Spring, ESOL students in Levels 1-4, take a yearly assessment, called the WIDA, to test their proficiencies in these areas. Students who earn an overall score of 4.4 or higher exit the program but remain on monitor status for two years. Other students will continue to receive services until they test out or parents opt them out of the program.