To help immigrant students, high school will teach English to parents

Gloucester Daily Times, April 12, 2006, page A1
By Douglas A. Moser
Staff writer

Gloucester parents who do not speak English well or at all will have the chance to take free English classes at the high school starting later this month.

In an effort to connect with those parents, Gloucester Schools and Action Inc., a local nonprofit, is sponsoring three classes set to begin in September, available to residents with children in the school system or their extended family. The high school will host a pilot program from the end of this month until the end of June.

Parents can sign up for the class [April 25 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.]* in the high school atrium or various locations around the city.

"It's important because we have a lot of children who don't have the English basis at home, so we're trying to get their parents involved to draw the children into the circle of participation," said Joseph Sullivan, the high school principal.

Sullivan hopes getting parents involved will help stem a slide in attendance of students whose parents do not speak English well or at all.

"We want to reach mom and dad so they can be more involved," he said. "We're trying to surround the children so they have a good, solid support system that will draw them into the schools in a more effective way."

Children are engaged for a good portion of their education, particularly because they want to learn English themselves, Sullivan said. As time goes on, many lose interest and their attendance drops.

John Ziergiebel, assistant principal at the high school, says the attendance rate of immigrant students is as low as 87 percent, compared to the high school average of 91.5 percent.

"No Child Left Behind makes us break down our data into subgroups, such as ethnicity, race, free lunch, reduced lunch, special education, (limited-English proficiency)," Ziergiebel said.

Once they looked at the subgroups, school officials discovered the attendance issues facing the children of immigrants, a trend Ziergiebel said they found "alarming."

He said the English classes are also intended to help the parents. "There's a tremendous correlation between English and poverty in the immigrant community," he said.

A recent study published by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth reported that immigrants whose native language is English make an average of $38,526 a year, while those who don't speak English make an average of $9,064 a year. That study used data from the 2000 Census.

Indeed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 101,385 of Essex County's 721,170 residents were foreign-born in 2003, the latest year for which that information was available. Of those, 43,942 are not American citizens. A total of 144,197 residents reported they do not speak English at home, and 65,601 responded that they speak English "less than well," according to the Census Bureau.

As the Census does not count illegal immigrants, the number of Essex County residents who do not speak English is likely higher.

Gloucester High, with a student body of about 1,000, has 64 students whose native language is not English, Ziergiebel said, and 40 of those students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Those students come from a range of countries, including Albania, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, India, Italy, Poland and Portugal, and Puerto Rico, an American territory.

The three classes, two of which will be introductory with the third more advanced, will have a maximum of 15 people in each and be at different times of the day to accommodate more people, said Chanda Shin*, planning director at Action Inc., which is helping to raise funds for the classes.

In September, the full 26-week classes will meet for five hours per week, likely over two days throughout the week, said Ziergiebel, who has been working with Action Inc. and Mayor John Bell's office on the program. Using community development block grants and fundraising, the city and Action Inc. will offer the classes for free.

"We're going to underwrite this because we know that it's important for the community," Sullivan said.

Shin said Action is looking at a budget of around $30,000. The high school is seeking a $14,00 community service grant** for the pilot program, about $4,000 in support from the School Committee and another $10,000 for the full 26-week program, said Ziergiebel.

Elizabeth Williams and Anna Wickers will teach the classes, said Shin.

In addition to the classes, Action will help parents obtain drivers' licenses, heating assistance and child care.

Immigrants and English, by the numbers

• 14.1 percent of Essex County residents, or 101,385 of 721,170, are foreign-born, according to the U.S. Census,
• 65 percent of those residents reported they speak English "less than well." The number is likely higher because the Census does not count illegal immigrants.
• 3.3 percent of the foreign-born population, or 43,942, are not American citizens
• 20 percent of Essex county residents, or 144,197, said they do not speak English at home
• 44.5 percent of those people told the Census they speak English "less than well."

Source: U.S. Census Bureau. All figures above are from 2003, the latest available from the Census.

*correction: the date and spelling have been corrected.

**correction: the program is seeking a $12,000 Community Development Block Grant from the City of Gloucester

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"Unity through English language" Gloucester Daily Times editorial 4/13/06

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