FIS welcomes students who do not speak English as their native language. They will be placed in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program. All entering students are given the Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP) test from the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which determines their English level.

The purpose of the ESOL program is to improve students’ speaking, writing, and reading abilities so that they can join the regular track. There are 3 levels of ESOL in middle school: beginning, intermediate and advanced, and 3 levels in high school: low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. At intermediate levels and below, students have fewer hours of history and science classes, and more hours of ESOL English classes. At the advanced level, students will have the usual number of hours of science and history classes, but slightly less content will be covered.

Here are the minimum English levels required for admission at each grade level from 2008 to 2011, determined by the SLEP test taken by all applying students.

All students in the ESOL program are given another SLEP test at the end of each semester to determine their progress. It is expected that all students will enter regular English classes no later than the first semester of their junior year.