LONG BEACH, CA – March 24, 2025 – Californians Together is proud to announce that the Fresno Unified School District will be awarded the 2024-2025 Lynne Aoki Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy District Recognition Award (LAMPBDRA) to honor their efforts in developing robust dual language and multicultural programs and comprehensive pathways for students to reach proficiency in two or more languages. This award is named in honor of Lynne Aoki—an advocate who dedicated her life to improving programs for English learners, and a founding member of Californians Together.
Presentation ceremonies for the LAMPBDRA will take place during the 2025 California Association for Bilingual Education Conference in Long Beach, California. Fresno USD will be highlighted on March 28th at the Seal of Excellence Awards and Recognition Banquet.
“This recognition honors the hard work of our staff and students, reflecting the value we place on the cultural heritage of all our ethnic and linguistic groups. Through our strong dual language programs, we are helping our students achieve their greatest potential,” said Interim Superintendent Misty Her of Fresno Unified School District.
Fresno Unified School District, which serves around 70,000 students, met multiple criteria to qualify for the award including:
● Hiring qualified staff
● Expanding biliteracy programs throughout the district
● Recognizing and awarding student progress and milestones toward bilingualism and biliteracy
● Providing a clear articulation of pathway programs
The Fresno Unified School District has a robust history of valuing biliteracy and multilingualism. We celebrate that biliteracy programs are expanding throughout the district in both Spanish and Hmong. This award honors district actions to recognize student programs and milestones toward bilingualism and biliteracy through pathways awards and the California State Seal of Biliteracy. Additionally, Fresno’s “grow your own” teacher programs deserve recognition for their potential to strengthen the bilingual educator pipeline for years to come. These programs serve as a model to be shared across the state.
“Pathway awards, culminating in the State Seal of Biliteracy, send a message to students that their progress toward proficiency in two or more languages matters. We are proud to honor Fresno Unified for their efforts to expand programs to meet the needs of their students. Fresno Unified recognizes the work it takes to ensure that students and educators have the support they need to expand critically important programs to support biliteracy and bilingualism. We are proud to award Fresno Unified with this distinguished honor,” said Martha Hernández, Executive Director of Californians Together.
The publication, Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy, published by Californians Together illustrates the importance of pathways awards for ensuring more students can become bilingual and biliterate. California has the potential to serve as an example for the nation in preparing students for college and the careers of the future, but more work is needed so that districts have the support they need to best serve diverse multilingual learners. This publication describes multiple pathways to biliteracy, provides guidance for districts to develop comprehensive language programs, and describes award eligibility criteria.
For more information please visit us at http://www.californianstogether.org or email Tamara Orozco, Director of Communications at tamara@caltog.org.
Californians Together is a statewide advocacy coalition of powerful organizations from all segments of the education community including teachers, administrators, board members, parents, and civil rights non-profit groups. Our member organizations come together around the goal of better educating 1.1 million English learners by improving California’s schools and promoting equitable educational policy.
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