North East ISD administrators learned from and about NEISD’s newcomer students. NEISD created the Newcomer Program for students who recently arrived in the area as refugees or asylees.
To celebrate World Refugee Day, NEISD administrators visited several campuses. The goal was to let them experience what it was like to migrate and take a journey. They even had mini passports that got stamped at every campus. They visited summer school classrooms where students were learning recipes, vocabulary, and poetry. They learned how to hold on to stories of home while learning about what a new life in America can look like. They met students from Afghanistan, Venezuela, Honduras and Columbia.
“This is incredibly rewarding,” said MacArthur High School Dual Language teacher Luis Cintron. “These students are eager to learn. They have a bright future here, and these classes are just so fulfilling for me as a teacher, and they are fun.”
In 2003, North East ISD was one of the first districts in the area to start accepting refugees. Since then, NEISD has worked incredibly hard to create an inviting school community for the children and a smooth transition for their families starting over in a new country. Now, NEISD serves hundreds of newcomers every year, offering them classes with one-on-one support. Newcomers speak 60 different languages, and NEISD works to connect these students with interpreters, counselors, and resources to help them succeed in school and in their new life.
Blog By: Aimet Luna, The University of Texas at Austin
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