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COLUMBIA - Columbia Public Schools officials said Wednesday the district's English Language Learners (ELL) program has more than 800 non-English speaking students this year, which is an increase of about 100 compared to last year.

ELL teachers not only coach children how to read, write and learn in English, but also teach them how to adapt to different cultures.

ELL coordinators said the initiative this year is to reach out to parents. By offering classes every Tuesday, the ELL program aims not only to help parents with their language, but also solve their concerns about educating their children at home.

ELL teacher Cindy Hintchton said helping parents also provides great benefit for teachers, since teachers can also learn from the different cultures of the parents.