Newcomers Center: Kentwood schools helping students succeed from around the world

Back to School at Kentwood Newcomer Centers
Miguelina Quinones (center) directs her kindergarden class at Meadowlawn Elementary School in Kentwood on Friday, September 6, 2013. The school has two classrooms for students arriving from other countries. (Lauren Petracca |
Monica Scott | By Monica Scott |
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on September 09, 2013 at 12:00 PM, updated September 09, 2013 at 2:54 PM

KENTWOOD, MI - After fleeing Myanmar and enduring a wave a violence in Malaysia, 12-year-old Ronald Thang and his family eventually landed in Kentwood.

International students from Myanmar to the Congo throw on their book bags every morning and head to one of two Kentwood schools English as a Second Language Newcomers Centers at Crestwood Middle and Meadowlawn Elementary schools.

They have been here anywhere from just a few weeks to a year or two. Some have come from refugee camps and poor and war-torn countries with no schooling, others have attended school sporadically because of civil war or gang violence, and still others haven't had their education interrupted at all.

"School is fun," said Thang, a Crestwood Newcomer Center student, who said he had to stay home when they were in Malaysia because of the violence."They kill a lot of people there. I am glad to be here with my friends."

Thang, in the U.S. over a year, said he likes playing and learning with so many students from different countries. So do classmates, Angeliz Roman, 11, who arrived last summer from Puerto Rico and Kabange Numbi, 13, who came from Tanzania more than a year ago.

"I like school because I learn more English and get to make new friends," said Numbi, as she hugged her Vietnamese classmate, Saomai Tran.

Shirley Johnson, assistant superintendent for student services, said students from more than 70 countries speak 65 languages in the district of around 8,700 students, including Swahili, Spanish, Vietnamese and Burmese.

Johnson said newcomers get registered first in their neighborhoods and are later assessed to determine skill level and services needed for placement. She said Crestwood currently has about 120 students in its Newcomer Center and Meadowlawn 27.

"The Newcomers Centers are a specialized academic environment so that we can focus on instruction and individual learning needs," said Johnson. "It really is a safe haven and that is why I believe their learning here is so accelerated."

Newly arrived, immigrant English language learners are usually in the program for a year or less.

"Once you get to the upper grades, the reality of the situation is that there is a dual challenge of learning the language and the academic content so they can pass the standardized tests."

Crestwood teachers Sarah Wiedyk and her colleague Sanela Spreic, who is a native of Bosnia, were trained in strategies to immerse students such as Thang in the English language for academic language proficiency and content learning.

The two work as a team in classrooms across the hall from each other, Spreic teaching English and science and Wiedyk zeroing in on math and social studies. A similar dynamic exists at Meadowlawn.

"A lot of extra time and attention is given to newcomers to try to help them get a good foundation before they go into general education," said Wiedyk, who said what's unique about Kentwood is that they're not just dealing with students from just a couple different backgrounds but those from multiple countries and educational histories.

Newcomers receive between three to five hours of instruction time through English Language Learner services and are mainstreamed for enrichment classes such as art and music.

Students who are on the lower end of English proficiency are split into two intermediate groups, spending part of their day with ELL instructors for language arts in self-contained classrooms and the remainder in general education core classes where ELL support staff or intervention specialists are available to provide support to ensure they understand class instruction.

"Students will learn conversational English first, but we want them to learn academic vocabulary, too, and that takes longer to develop," said Wiedyk, who said students enjoy learning about each others culture.

She said because many of their students experienced interrupted schooling, especially those who came to the U.S. as refugees, students may stay in their program for more than a year while they acquire the language and academic skills necessary for success in general education.

Spreic said their students are eager to learn. She said many become translators for their families.

"In a refugee camp, it might be 60 of them sitting on the ground with no school supplies or professional teachers," she said. "It is not a quality education. Often as a refugee, you're treated as a second-class citizen and you don't go to school or have rights."

Omar Bakri, the principal of Crestwood Middle School, who came to the U.S. from Iraq at age 6, said the opportunity to understand and appreciate different cultures is "priceless" for their 663 students in a global, knowledge-driven economy.

"Our kids always come back and say they go into colleges and universities with more than a knowledge of science, math and social studies but a cultural experience that is tremendous," said Bakri, as he walked along the hallway where flags hang from each student's home country.

The Newcomer Center is a couple classrooms within the larger school. Crestwood, 2674 44th St. SE, has had the program 14 years, and this is the third year for Meadowlawn, 4939 Burgis Ave. SE. Johnson said the middle school success prompted the expansion.

Prior to the centers, Meadowlawn Principal Michelle Downs said students were placed in age-appropriate classrooms but educators found they didn't take risks in classes with all their peers speaking English.

"What we've seen is these kids are speaking English and making huge gains academically much quicker in this learning environment," she said about the school of 329 students.

"They are doing what everyone else is doing but in an environment now where they care getting the language support to be able to access that content knowledge."

Meadowlawn teacher Chellie Howard was teaching the math concept of place values to grades 3 through 5 the first week of school, including to students from the Congo and Nepal, through a fun exercise.

Her colleague, Miguelina Quiones, who teachers kindergarten through second grade, said most of the students who leave the program are reading, not exactly at the same level as native speakers but at a first- or second-grade level.

"It is a challenge for them to learn the language and the content at the same time," said Quiones, who said most of her students have been in the country less than six months but pick up skills fast.

Spreic is teaching her students how to introduce themselves. She also had them sharing their identities through a collage project in which they cut out magazine pictures that represented things about themselves and their country.

The teachers say parent involvement is important with all students to help the achieve their full potential. They said they reach out to their parents through interpreters and translators and all correspondence is translated into their native language.

"By using this model, we are demonstrating our commitment to all students," said Johnson, who said they want students to feel welcomed and safe as they develop the language skills to assimilate to a new culture.

