Point Pleasant Junior Senior High School (PPJSHS) is a school located in northwestern West Virginia that has only six students registered as "other" in its student population of one thousand one hundred and ninety-seven (1,197) (WVDE , 2012-2013). Of these six students, all were born and raised in the city of Point Pleasant. They speak English fluently and do not require any bilingual support. According to William Cottrill, the principal, “…at Point Pleasant Junior Senior High School, we don't need a bilingual program. We have no students enrolled who require support from a bilingual specialist” (W. Cottrill, personal communication, March 31, 2014). Our assignment this week asks us to discuss how our school fits into Dr.'s list of characteristics. Tom Stritikus mentions in his video Characteristics of Effective Schools. PPJSHS does not have a bilingual program to compare and contrast. However, PPJSHS uses these features, or similar features, to meet the educational needs of all students within the student body. In our resources this week, Dr. Stritikus gives us a list of characteristics that effective schools must use to have a successful bilingual program. The first characteristic that Dr. Stritikus lays out is that there must be a school-wide commitment to the bilingual program (Laureate Education, n.d.). Dr. Stritikus says it takes four to seven years for students learning another language to be able to meet the academic demands of the second language. With this in mind, it is necessary for everyone involved in the school community to be activists and understand the challenges that the bilingual student faces. These requests extend to the entire student where they live. Being a teacher in a school with only six multicultural students makes it difficult to fully appreciate all aspects of a bilingual education. I can only speculate on how I would be additive rather than subtractive to a bilingual student's education. PPJSHS uses the features that Dr. Stritikus explains in his videos in a different way than to support bilingual education. PPJSHS uses these features to meet the educational needs of the entire student body. Works CitedLaureate Education. (n.d.). Characteristics of effective schools [video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.eduWVDE. (2012-2013). Schools by composition all classes all subgroups School year: 2012-13. Retrieved from http://wveis.k12.wv.us/nclb/pub/enroll/sumdatapschv2.cfm?cn=049&sn=502&coname=MASON&rpage=pickone.cfm&rptnum=07&year=13