Framingham Adult ESL's new Milford classes are so popular, they had to hold a lottery

Tom Benoit, The Milford Daily News
·3 min read

MILFORD — Months after it was announced that Framingham's Adult ESL (FAESL) program was being expanded to Milford, 76 students are poised to begin classes there.

ESL classes begin in Milford on Sept. 7 at the Stacy Middle School, and will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Executive Director Kevin O'Connor said that after a recent admissions event in Milford, 65 new students were admitted to the program. Eleven others that were taking classes in Framingham, but live in Milford, were transferred to the Milford program.

The event had a turnout of 270, according to O'Connor, with a lottery system held for admissions.

Natalia Santos, center, speaks during an in-person morning Framingham Adult ESL+ class in March. The program has expanded to Milford.
Natalia Santos, center, speaks during an in-person morning Framingham Adult ESL+ class in March. The program has expanded to Milford.

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"Everyone who didn't win the lottery got information on other programs in the area," he said.

O'Connor said there are educators from both Framingham and Milford, with three of them having "deep roots" in Milford. He said FAESL is excited for the start of the Milford program and thanked Milford Public Schools for providing classroom space.

"We're building a strong coalition of services and really good groups," O'Connor said, adding that the education is aimed at navigating systems and solving problems.

The ESL program in Framingham felt the need to expand after seeing a number of students commuting to Framingham from Milford. O'Connor said it made more sense to connect thoses students with services closer to home. Furthermore, while FAESL was the closest publicly-funded adult education program to Milford, a new location meant that Milford students would no longer need to travel 20 miles to learn, and more seats will then open for students closer to Framingham.

FAESL's expansion to Milford was made possible with about $200,000 in funding — obtained after an open and competitive process — from the Massachusetts Department of Education's Adult and Community Learning Services division and the FAESL Student Advisory Council.

What does Framingham's ESL classes teach?

FAESL instructs more than 1,000 students. In addition to English classes, it offers classes in citizenship, computer technology, family literacy, adult basic education and high school equivalency. It also advises students of Middlesex County programs such as those for eviction diversion, food pantries and health insurance services, which helps to keep students coming to classes.

The new program will provide 200 hours of instruction.

Where do students originate?

O'Connor said that although he's still parsing data, Milford students are predominantly of Brazilian descent, with some from Ecuador. Similarly, students at the Framingham program are also predominantly form Brazil, Ecuador and other Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries.

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After winning seats in the lottery, students were required to take a placement test, and were then either placed in a regular class or put on a waiting list. Students must complete 80% of their classes in order to continue in the program.

FAESL operates as a department of Framingham Public Schools, which provides classroom space for evening classes at Fuller Middle School.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham Adult ESL ready start new Milford classes