Interpreting and Translation
The mission of the Office of Interpreting and Translation (OIT) is to bridge communication for families through the provision of language access resources, facilitating professional and efficient written translation and oral interpreting services. Central to the mission of the OIT is to support schools and offices with language-specific communication, such that families may have equitable opportunities for engagement.
Interpreting Services
The OIT provides interpreters for approved school activities to ensure that parents/guardians who are not primary speakers of English, or who are deaf or hard of hearing can fully participate in their children’s education. Interpreters can assist with parent/teacher conferences, PTA meetings, parent workshops, back-to-school nights, administrative conferences, SIT/SST meetings, special education assessments, IEP meetings, home visits, suspension conferences, expulsion hearings and other meetings or school events.
Supported Languages
- Amharic
- Haitian Creole
- Pashto
- American Sign Language
- Hindi
- Punjabi
- Arabic
- K’iche’
- Spanish
- Chinese/Mandarin
- Kaqchikel
- Tigrinya
- Dari
- Mam
- Urdu
- Farsi
- Masalit
- Vietnamese
- French
- Nepali
- Yoruba
How to Request an Interpreter
Interpreters work on an on-call basis and a minimum of 72 business hours is needed to fill most requests; some lower-incidence languages may require more time to arrange.
Staff Requests for Interpreting
Each school/office has designated staff members who can submit requests online using the Fluency Scheduling Platform.
Parent/Guardian Requests for Interpreting
Parents may ask the school to submit a request for a scheduled meeting/event, or may request an interpreter by contacting the OIT.
Telephonic Interpreting Services
CTS Language Linkis authorized for interpreting services by phone in the event of immediate on-site communicative encounters with parents/guardians and for outbound calls to parents/guardians who are not primary speakers of English. This service is available for staff to communicate with parents in over 250 languages. Please contact the OIT for school/office code details.
Translation Services
The OIT facilitates document translation of systemic and school-wide documents for parent communication. Translation services are fully available in Spanish and French.
Contact Information
Dr. Jennifer Love, Supervisor of Language Access & Engagement
Sandra Acevedo, Coordinator of Interpreting Services
Juan Lizama, Coordinator of Translation Services
Office: 301-408-5511
Interpreting Inquiries: interpreter@pgcps.org
Translation Inquiries: translations@pgcps.org
Judy Hoyer Family Learning Center
8908 Riggs Road
Adelphi, Maryland 20783