Back to School with RBERN West

Dear Colleagues,
Welcome back to the 2025-26 school year!

The RBERN West team is thrilled to be continue supporting educators in western New York under our new five-year grant from NYSED OBEWL! We’ve proudly supported our region, and this new chapter brings exciting opportunities to partner with educators, families, and community leaders. Together, we’ll continue supporting and promoting academic success and high school graduation for all multilingual learners.

As we begin the 2025-26 school year, we'd like to share some exciting news:

New RBERN West website
Check out our new website! We will continue to add/expand content so make sure to check back regularly.

Professional development
We are excited to offer an array of professional development opportunities. Please click on this link for the PD catalog.

We want to ensure that we prioritize your professional development requests. Please complete this PD request form so we can appropriately assign the work to the coordinator who will best serve the district. It is important to note that Superintendent's Conference Days (SCDs) fall on the same date for many districts. We will accommodate requests based on availability.

Transfer Student Assessment Data Requests
RBERN West has worked with WNYRIC on this infographic on the avenues for securing transfer student data. As we gear up for a new school year, please share this with your ENL department and administrators.

Steps for Accessing Potential ELL student transfer data in WNY

Hispanic Women's League Scholarship
Submissions for the Hispanic Women's League 2025 Scholarship is now open.

Learn More

4th Annual Careers in Education Conference at Niagara University

This year, we are offering 200 seats for high school students. While the conference is designed with juniors and seniors in mind, all high school students are welcome to attend. Registration will close once all available seats are filled.

Student Registration

Voices United Conference

Join NYSED Office of Bilingual Education and World Language in Albany for Voices United Conference.

Lindsay Crimmins and Jennifer Conway

Awards highlight (2024-25)
We were honored to recognize two exceptional educators.

The 2025 Teacher Leader of the Year awardee is Lindsay Crimmins, an ENL teacher at Sweet Home CSD. This award is given to a teacher who has exhibited exceptional leadership in support of ELL education. This is someone who steps outside of their normal classroom responsibilities to support their colleagues, provide professional learning opportunities, and bring awareness to others about best practices to support ELL students.
The 2025 ELL Advocate of the Year awardee is Jennifer Conway, an ENL Coordinator at Kenmore-Tonawanda UFSD. This award is given to a staff member who has engaged in meaningful advocacy work on behalf of English language learners. This can include work in the local community and any impact on changes in a local school district and beyond. The intention is to recognize advocacy efforts that have a significant impact, but might not otherwise be known or receive attention.

Jessica Sears

Regional survey
Thank you to everyone who responded to the RBERN regional survey. The information helped guide our planning for the 2025-26 school year.

Have a great start to the school year!

The RBERN West Team