{"id":1114,"date":"2014-02-07T17:27:31","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T17:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/generationone\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2014-12-29T23:00:06","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T23:00:06","slug":"in-fort-worth-a-school-just-for-immigrant-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/generationone\/in-fort-worth-a-school-just-for-immigrant-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"In Fort Worth, A School Just For Immigrant Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an innovative school in the Fort Worth school district with about 500 students. Not one of them has been in the U.S. more than a year or two. It\u2019s called the International Newcomer Academy. Here\u2019s a look at how this school works.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

\"From

From left, Devanhy Lopez Fragoso and other students work on a social studies jigsaw vocabulary review at International Newcomer Academy in Fort Worth ISD. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

At one table in a sixth-grade classroom, a boy from Afghanistan sits across from a couple of girls from Nepal. Next to them is a girl from Mexico. <\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve all been in the United States for less than a year. <\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re all working as a team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their teacher, Jaclynn Santilli, talks to the class.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where you show me if you can take what you remember from Monday, Tuesday and earlier today,\u201d she says. \u201cRead in English, speak in English, and write in English and work together to solve the puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santilli is explaining how to do what\u2019s known as a vocabulary jigsaw. The kids are in groups of four; everyone gets a card containing a set of clues to help them figure out words. At this table, the phrase has something to do with demographics.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo words: The first starts with a B,\u201d one student says.<\/p>\n

When students interact with each other, they learn by hearing the information and sharing it.<\/p>\n

This exercise also builds empathy, Santilli says, because kids realize they\u2019re all going through the same struggle of learning a new language.<\/p>\n

\"Jaclynn

Jaclynn Santilli, a teacher at International Newcomer Academy, explains a vocabulary exercise to her sixth graders. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

Feeling safe far away from home<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Devanhy Lopez Fragoso, who’s 11, reads the next clue.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe second word start with an R,\u201d Devanhy says.<\/p>\n

Finally, it clicks.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBeert rate,\u201d Devanhy says. \u201cBit rate. Look. Beert rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sixth

Sixth grade students work in small groups and use clues to figure out their social studies vocabulary words. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

She\u2019s saying birth rate. Then a smile and a giggle. Just a few months ago, she and her family arrived from Monterrey, Mexico. She says she didn\u2019t know English when she arrived.<\/p>\n

Devanhy says school is different here. It\u2019s hard. She struggles with pronunciation. And she wishes she could see all of her relatives like she did in Monterrey.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a bright side.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause here the school is, like, good,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Devanhy describes school in Mexico as ugly. She talks about the lack of security. Here? She feels safe. And that\u2019s true of a lot of these 500 kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Mexico, is really bad, the situation \u2013 like economic, like the problem with safety,\u201d said Yanet Hernandez, a ninth grader who\u2019s 18. (A number of the students are much older than usual for their grade.)<\/p>\n

Over and over, these kids talk about safety. Yanet\u2019s mom didn\u2019t want her only daughter to come to the U.S. at first. She tears up as she explains in Spanish.<\/p>\n

“My mom didn\u2019t want me to have problems,” Yanet says.<\/p>\n

Gunmen held up her mom\u2019s convenience store while they were both inside, she says.<\/p>\n

They decided she\u2019d be better off living with her aunt and uncle in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

\"Amanda

Amanda Bradley is the dean of instruction at International Newcomer Academy in the Fort Worth school district. “We try to make sure that \u2026 they\u2019re adding something to our school,” she says. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

Nine dictionaries in nine languages<\/strong><\/h6>\n

The school\u2019s goal is to recognize a student\u2019s home country, says Amanda Bradley, dean of instruction at the International Newcomer Academy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand they\u2019re coming from war-torn countries and that they have a story that they want to tell,\u201d Bradley says. \u201cWe try to make sure that \u2026 they\u2019re adding something to our school and not just becoming an American but also that they bring a lot with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A

A ninth-grade English class made posters showing what they learned from “Behind the Veil,” a story about a girl who feels she’ll be judged for wearing a veil. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

And that means getting creative. Recently, students read a story called \u201cBehind the Veil.\u201d It\u2019s about a young Muslim girl named Nadia. Along one wall, students write their impressions of the story on sticky notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might not have the full vocabulary and when you read their work, it\u2019s broken English, but that\u2019s OK, you can tell that [they know] the concept,\u201d Bradley says. \u201cThat big idea that we want them to achieve is there and that\u2019s what we focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the kids just spend a year here before going to their local middle or high school. There are about a dozen or so newcomer programs in Texas and more than 60 in the country.<\/p>\n

Julian Vasquez Heilig, a national education researcher, says a visit to the Fort Worth academy convinced him that separate schools for immigrant students can work as long as they have high-quality teachers and innovative approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sitting at one of the tables and there were dictionaries \u2013 nine different dictionaries in nine different languages \u2013 stacked in the middle of the table,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This fall, teachers have been focusing on getting kids to pick up books on their own. In the first six weeks of the semester, 4,000 books were checked out, compared to a few hundred last year.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Yanet

Yanet Hernandez, a ninth grader at International Newcomer Academy, arrived in March from Mexico. She wants to attend TCU. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Thinking beyond high school<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\"Victor

Victor Cervantes, a student at International Newcomer Academy, came from Mexico a year ago. He wants to go to college and play football or soccer. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

There are successes, but these kids have a long way to go. Last year, only two students out of 135 passed English 1 on the statewide STAAR test. This year, 11 did, principal Rodrigo Durbin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are brand-new students coming in, only been here eight months, nine months and their expectation is they\u2019re gonna pass English 1, so it\u2019s very challenging for our campus and especially those students,\u201d Durbin says.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the school gives these kids opportunities they never imagined would be possible in their native country, Durbin says. Like thinking about going to college.<\/p>\n

Yanet gets emotional when she talks about her plans after high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cYo quiero ir a TCU,\u201d she says in Spanish.<\/em><\/p>\n

She wants to go to TCU.<\/p>\n

After a visit to the Fort Worth college, she brought home a memento with her name on it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hanging in her bedroom. It\u2019s a daily reminder of her ultimate goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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