If you’re looking for an expert in the field of EL (English Learners, students whose native language is not English), look no further than St. Cloud Area School District and Kelly Frankenfield, director of EL (English Learner) and cultural programs, who recently testified at the Minnesota State Capitol.
After graduating from the College of St. Benedict and obtaining her master’s Degree in EL, she moved to San Antonio, Texas where she worked with students who primarily spoke Spanish. She moved back to Minnesota, where she then became a literacy coach teaching with SIOP strategies (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, a research-based instructional model to address needs of English learners) in Fairbault, Minnesota.
Her experience teaching EL brought her to the Southwest Metro Regional Team working for the State of Minnesota. For three years, she was an advocate working with a focus and priority of 100 percent Somali or Hmong students. Frankenfield eventually served on the Board of MinneTESOL, a professional association of teachers of English and second language in Minnesota.
Having served a total of five years on the board of MinneTESOL, she is expert on SLIFE (Students with Limited Interrupted Formal Education).
“Being part of the state team has really opened doors for me [and District 742],” says Frankenfield.
The Minnesota Department of Education now uses St. Cloud Area School District as an exemplar model for other Title III school districts. St. Cloud Area School District has the third largest population of EL students in the state.
“We can’t work alone anymore,” explains Frankenfield. “We really need to collaborate because you can’t do it all by yourself. It really feels good that St. Cloud is going to be a model for other districts.”
That recognition is one of the reasons why Frankenfield was chosen to testify for the H.F. 3180 funding bill. The funding bill, co-sponsored by Minnesota State Representative Jim Knoblach, requests concentrated additional funding for EL students. It would provide school districts an additional $500 per student for EL programs. If the bill passes, it will go into effect September of 2019.
When Frankenfield isn’t testifying at the Capitol or heading the EL program at District 742, she loves to be outdoors, take long walks and to read, particularly educational literature.
However, she says, “I really love to work.”
So even in her spare time, she is pushing herself to be on the forefront of expertise in the field of English learners.
I would like to write to Kelly Frankenfield and need her e-mail address
Thank you for the inquiry. Her email address is kelly.frankenfield@isd742.org.