Arcadia was enrolled in classes at the Lab School for five consecutive terms (just over one year) from early April in 2003 to June 2004. In two of these terms, however, she was not able to attend very regularly. Arcadia was seen by her instructors as a successful student. Her standardized language tests show part of the reason for her teachers' positive perceptions. Observations of her behavior in the classroom and her reports from interviews also give clues to her success as a learner.

Already early in her first term of classes (April 14, 2003), there is evidence that Arcadia was a supportive classmate using her first language, Spanish. At the start of the class break, the teacher had placed out a number of books for the students to select to do Sustained Silent Reading in the second part of the class, after the break. Near the end of the break, several students, including Arcadia, have looked through the books to find appropriate reading material for the second half of the class. While looking through the books, Arcadia encourages a classmate who has remained seated, to select a book and read. After several minutes, that classmate selects a book to read (Click to View) (Requires Internet Explorer).

Four months later, in August, Arcadia helps a classmate translating useful phrases for getting around town from Spanish to English. During this task, she also encourages the classmate to try practicing speaking English more and to not be embarrassed about speaking English.

Along with the encouragement she offered to her peers in class, we see that Arcadia was also making efforts to improve her own English language skills by taking extra classes. In the following excerpt, Arcadia and her classmate are asking one another questions about what they do on particular days of the week. Arcadia's classmate asks her when she goes to school. When Arcadia answers Monday, Thursday and Saturday, her classmate is surprised because the class they are in together meets only Mondays and Thursdays. Arcadia goes on to explain that she needs "one more class" and "needs learning" (Click to View) (Requires Internet Explorer). In an interview from 2006, Arcadia also displayed her awareness of her own needs and preferences for learning. She told the interviewer that she did not usually learn on her own but needed the help of her co-workers correcting her English pronunciation or formal learning situations. She indicated that in the spring of 2006 she was going to re-enroll in ESL classes at a community college campus near her home.