Charles Ko

Dear students, parents, and guardians,

Greetings to all students, parents, and guardians!

I am currently the English Language Learning Coordinator (ELLC) for Amerigo Education. Amerigo Education partnered with Bishop Montgomery High School in 2018, with the goal of helping international students study at elite US high schools and matriculate into US universities. I joined Amerigo Education and BHMS in 2022 school year, making this my second year helping international students into greater education in United States. 

My primary instructional goal is to help students develop their English language skills. English language skills are important for many reasons: 1. they are an important factor in students' academic success in their classes at BMHS, 2. they are the foundation for students' personal experiences in the United States, and 3. they are critical for students' college admissions and success in college.

In my role as ELLC, I teach classes in the Academic Reading and Composition (ARC) Program. This program focuses on helping students develop their academic reading and writing skills, as well as their formal and informal speaking and listening skills. There are three levels to ARC, and Amerigo students are required to complete two years of this program.

In my ARC classes, I help students develop reading comprehension skills such a previewing, predicting, inferring, speed reading, analyzing and evaluating. I also help students develop their writing skills, including their abilities to think critically, brainstorm ideas, organize an outline, draft a paper, review and edit, use new vocabulary, and develop their grammar skills. Additionally, I help students develop their speaking and listening skills through group work, projects, notetaking activities, discussions, and presentations. 

Outside of the classroom, I support students by facilitating extra classes for English development, coordinating study sessions, and overseeing an in-house tutoring program. Further, I serve the teachers at BMHS by providing staff trainings and assistance with differentiating their instruction for international/non-native English speaking students. I also work closely with the Amerigo residential staff, who live with and guide our international students while they are here in the United States. 

Prior to joining Amerigo Education, I taught at high schools and universities for about 20 years, where I was an English language teacher, English education major faculty, and English teacher trainer. Added to that, I have also worked as a college admissions advisor for 4 years.