Meet Annie Connor.
First thing in the morning, Ms. Annie co-teaches an Algebra class of both English learners (ELs) and non-ELs, all dressed in pajamas for the school’s Spirit Week. Heads are down completing the bell ringer on the board when Ms. Annie interrupts the silence to begin vocal exercises. “I want your voices to be heard today, so repeat after me: OOOOOOOOUUUUU, EEEEEEEE, AAAHHHHHH.” The students—pre-teens in usual form—feel embarrassed, especially with a guest sitting in the corner, but they oblige. They are waking up, but they’re also practicing vowel sounds. In math class.
They are waking up, but they’re also practicing vowel sounds. In math class.
Students are sitting in mixed groupings, and as the math instruction continues, Ms. Annie and I are going around to check for understanding. Students are speaking in Spanish, English, and Arabic. Students are helping each other, even using shared words when their primary languages aren’t the same. The co-teaching model for core subjects allows one teacher to focus on standard instruction, while Ms. Annie ensures all the ELs are following along and understanding the lesson.
The bell rings. Students funnel out of the classroom in their multi-color pajama sets and disperse into the maze of hallways at Andersen United Middle School. However, a group of students from the morning Algebra class stick together, walking as a group to a different section of the building. They are walking to “newcomer elective.”
Welcome to Minneapolis
Best known to the average American for the Mall of America and the eminent musical artist Prince, Minneapolis also has the less well-known distinction of being a city that has long welcomed immigrant and refugee communities. In 2023, about 9 percent of the population of Minnesota—roughly half a million people—were born outside the United States, and nearly 380,000 of those lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) alone. Among the largest immigrant and/or refugee origin groups in 2020 were the Ethiopian, Hmong, Mexican, and Somali communities.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who represents Minneapolis and the surrounding areas, often talks about her experience fleeing Somalia with her family at the age of 8 and living in a Kenyan refugee camp until her family moved to Minneapolis, where she attended Edison High School. Her story resonates with the nearly 87,000 Somali-Americans who call Minneapolis home, per 2021 American Community Survey data.
According to researchers from New American Economy, immigrants and refugees in Minneapolis in 2019 held $1.2 billion in spending power, about 11 percent of the spending power of the entire area. The counties that make up the Minneapolis metro area all hold “sanctuary” status, which means that they don’t collaborate with immigration enforcement authorities; moreover, Welcoming America, a national organization that designates local governments as “welcoming” if they align with a rigorous rubric of inclusive policies, has awarded the city of Minneapolis with a Certificate of Welcoming. And while advocates continue to push for additional policies and programs to support the diverse immigrant and refugee communities residing across Minneapolis, the city has decades of experience to build on, and several community-based organizations that make this easier, even in schools.
Andersen United Middle School—a “Place for Newcomers”
In central Minneapolis, Andersen United Middle School has seen the largest growth of newcomers in the district. Indeed, according to Andersen United’s multilingual learner lead and instructional coach, Laura Byard, the school started at about 1,000 students in the fall. Already in October, the school was 37 percent English learners (ELs), with twenty-five languages spoken. However, according to school-level data reported to the district, by early May, the school had enrolled about 150 newcomer students that year, increasing the EL count to 42 percent. That’s in addition to the 300 newcomers who had enrolled in the previous three years, according to the Sahan Journal.
“Andersen United has always been a place for newcomers,” says Laura Byard. It’s true. They proudly say so on their school homepage: “Andersen is proud to be the home of the community program, welcoming neighborhood students and the dual language pathway in the district. We also welcome students who are new to our country.” Since 2021, when Andersen switched to the grade configuration (grades six through eight) that it has today, it has outpaced the district EL average almost twofold. Indeed, in the 2023–24 school year, the EL count was just two percentage points shy of double the district’s 23 percent. Perhaps due to its central location, or its popular Spanish dual-language program and growing newcomer support system, Andersen continues to educate and nurture a large and diverse EL community.
While Andersen enrolls more ELs than the district, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) still enroll a higher percentage of ELs than the average U.S. school district. As of 2019–20, there were 5 million ELs in U.S. public schools, making up 10.4 percent of the student population. In that same year, ELs made up about 19 percent of Minneapolis public school students. To put that into perspective, that’s higher than New York City Schools, and about the same as Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
It’s important to note here that on average, nearly two-thirds of ELs are born in the United States, so EL counts aren’t generally a reliable proxy for newly arrived immigrant or refugee students. In an interview with Minneapolis Public Radio, the director of the MPS Office of Latine Achievement, Marion Tizon, explained that this lack of disambiguation is an intentional choice: “We are a sanctuary community,” she said, “so we do not track immigration status, nor the date that our students arrive in the country.” Instead, the district uses English language proficiency of their newly enrolled ELs to approximate the newcomer population. She says, “It’s around, right now, 2,500 newly enrolled Spanish speaking or home-language Spanish students, of which the majority are newcomers. And we know this because our first level of English language learning classes has gone up drastically since last year as well.” Additionally, growth in EL enrollment after the beginning of the year is often driven by newcomer ELs, and school-level data that TCF requested for this study confirm this was the case at Andersen.
Over the years, Andersen has developed school-wide programming to support its growing EL community, including a thriving Spanish dual-language program—the only middle school dual-language program in MPS. The placement of a dual-language program at Andersen is important, because emerging research suggests that well-implemented bilingual education programs and, in particular, two-way dual language immersion programs that integrate ELs and native English speakers in bilingual settings, appear to be especially effective ways to support ELs’ linguistic and academic development.
However, when Andersen received its first larger group of newcomers from South America—primarily Ecuador—in 2022–23, the school’s well-established systems were overwhelmed. Quickly, school leaders worked to shore up enough support for this new group of students, who brought with them many specific academic and social-emotional needs that required dedicated support. Andersen originally had six English as a second language (ESL)-certified teachers with a 50:1 EL student–teacher ratio. But with the sudden increase in enrollment, Andersen’s EL department decided that it was important to ensure students had some staffing consistency across their courses to address the questions and wraparound needs of newcomers while these students adjusted to the new norms of American schooling. Thus, they used their EL funding to pull Ms. Annie from her teaching position and “spread her” across all classes to co-teach core content and to serve as the “newcomer teacher,” leaving only five teachers to handle all English language development (ELD) level 1 and 2 classes and increasing the EL student-to-teacher ratio to 60:1.
This approach, coupled with the implementation of a co-teaching model, a newcomer liaison, and an additional elective course for newly arrived students, has brought immeasurable success for Andersen’s newcomers.
This was a risky move, in part because some studies point to negative effects of large class sizes. However, in the case of Andersen, this approach, coupled with the implementation of a co-teaching model, a newcomer liaison, and an additional elective course for newly arrived students, has brought immeasurable success for Andersen’s newcomers.
Structuring the Newcomer Experience at Andersen
When a new student enrolls, Ms. Byard does intake, any necessary assessments, and provides a class schedule for the student. Then, Ms. Annie helps them access basic needs and services. Sometimes, that means calling a local immigration clinic to connect the family with important legal support. Other days, it looks like getting students school supplies, or taking them to the school’s “coat closet,” where they keep donated winter clothing for new students who arrive to the area unprepared for the region’s infamous low temperatures. Ms. Annie is the designated staff person who helps to answer questions about American schooling, course schedules, etc., and who addresses challenges they might face throughout the year. They are also matched with a former newcomer, a “buddy,” who can help them navigate the ins and outs of Andersen, and with whom they can eat lunch together, find the bus stop, and more. “The buddy system made me feel less alone when I first got here,” a student said. “I had a friend right away,” said another. Institutionalizing this practice made sense to Byard and Ms. Annie, because “newcomers are the best at knowing what other newcomers need.”
As discussed above, in her new role, Ms. Annie was tasked to co-teach in core content classes with high numbers of newcomer—not including ELD. Her role is to ensure that students in core content courses understand the material and receive the additional support they might need to be successful in those classes. Additionally, she was given a “newcomer elective” class—a period in which she would support students with several common newcomer needs and support their adjustment for their first year at Andersen.
Since starting this class in 2023, she began designing her own curriculum for her newcomer elective students focused on “culture” and “welcoming,” incorporating topics that are of interest to many of her students. In lessons such as “A History of Race in America,” students learn about history and sociology, consider ways their peers see them, and come up with tools to navigate the complexities of their identities here in the United States, and particularly in the Midwest. In lessons such as “Common American Holidays” and “Prom and School Dances in American Culture,” they discuss pop culture, listen to musical genres that are unique to the United States as well as in their home countries, and celebrate their own cultural and linguistic assets that they bring to the school.
Students receive an elective credit for this course, and they are graded for participation in class discussions, group projects, and individual assignments. Ms. Annie shared that she was especially proud of her students’ participation in the journal project, an opportunity for students to reflect on their first year in U.S. schools in any language of their choosing. Students are free to indicate whether they would like Ms. Annie to review a passage or not.
Ms. Annie’s class is a safe space for students to speak their home language, navigate the growing pains associated with big changes, connect with peers who are navigating Andersen for the first time like they are, and celebrate their own growth. Aside from a few giggles during instruction—typical of nearly every middle school classroom—this class was filled with eager, reflective, and hopeful students, determined to fulfill their potential in Minneapolis.
Supporting Newcomers beyond Academics
Throughout TCF’s visits to newcomer programs across the country, our researchers have noticed that specific programming to help newcomers adjust to their new school community is a common supplement to any program’s robust language development and rigorous core curriculum instruction.
For example, Coppell Independent School District, a medium-sized school district outside of Dallas, Texas, runs a “backpack program” to welcome students who are new to the United States—regardless of whether they are ELs or not. In the backpacks, students will find “world program” folders with information about Coppell and the United States, basic information about schooling in America, ideas of things to do at home, extra books at grade level to keep, and contact information for interpreters and EL/immigrant liaisons in the school. In addition to the backpack program, the district’s Department of Communications and Community Engagement offers bus tours of the community for newly enrolled families, and several online resources in multiple languages for parents and guardians to learn more and stay engaged.
Some districts offer a week-long orientation that covers similar contextual material, including relevant legal resources, to prepare students for success. Others have designated a “newcomer liaison,” similar to Ms. Annie’s role at Andersen, to support each newcomer with their adjustment to their new learning environment. Dedicating a full-time employee position is possible for Andersen because of the increased access to funding that comes from Minneapolis’s comparatively large newcomer population, and might not be easily replicated in other places; but the approach has been applied to a similar effect in other large districts. As another example, during the pandemic, Montgomery County used ESSER dollars to fund a coordinator position for unaccompanied minors.
Through different welcoming strategies, some smaller than others, schools and districts demonstrate that they are willing to create—and sustain—programming that aims to support newcomer students beyond just academics. Building on decades of research that establishes a sense of belonging is fundamental to well-being and academic success, they are focused on creating welcoming environments for new students and families by providing information and services to help them adjust to new environments, while ensuring students feel seen and welcome as their full selves.
Closing Out the Day with Ms. Annie
A week before Mother’s Day, I found myself in Ms. Annie’s newcomer elective class. About twenty students, predominantly from Ecuador, sat in twos and threes doing arts and crafts. The assignment: share your appreciation for a mother figure in your life.
Ms. Annie announced to the class in Spanish, “Today, we are celebrating mothers. How do you celebrate mothers in your hometown?” Students responded to their “elbow buddies” (those sitting next to them). The full prompt was, “Today we are learning about Mother’s Day in the United States. You will write a card or create artwork for a mother figure in your life.”
Two boys sitting at an oval table in the back corner sketched young mothers on cardstock that the teacher gave them. Two girls on the other end of the oval were folding thin pink paper to create a bouquet of flowers for a teacher. At the table next to them, a girl told me that she got to Minneapolis three months prior and enrolled in two schools before coming to Andersen. “I like this school better. They speak to me in Spanish and they are nice and I have friends here.”
“The students are new to the United States—some even arrived just days ago,” Ms. Annie said to me. “At Andersen, we are focused on teaching them content, but we’re also helping them adjust to their new home. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, it’s a perfect opportunity to compare what this celebration might look like in their home countries and what it means here.”
As the school year was coming to an end, students were preparing their final projects. Their task: design a cover for your life’s memoir—in this case, their class journal. Students were excited about using anime or watercolors for this project. The goal is for students to leave knowing they are valuable members of the school community.
When reflecting on her first two years in this role, Ms. Annie said she’s learned more about the role of community in achieving educational justice: “Working with newcomers helps to disrupt the characteristics of white supremacy culture in school, such as perfectionism,” she told me. “Our students don’t fit into any box. We can’t have urgency with their learning, and we navigate everything with collectivism, as a community.”
Tags: English as a second language, English Language Learners, newcomer students, national newcomer network
How a Middle School in Central Minneapolis Creates a Nurturing Space for Newcomers
Meet Annie Connor.
First thing in the morning, Ms. Annie co-teaches an Algebra class of both English learners (ELs) and non-ELs, all dressed in pajamas for the school’s Spirit Week. Heads are down completing the bell ringer on the board when Ms. Annie interrupts the silence to begin vocal exercises. “I want your voices to be heard today, so repeat after me: OOOOOOOOUUUUU, EEEEEEEE, AAAHHHHHH.” The students—pre-teens in usual form—feel embarrassed, especially with a guest sitting in the corner, but they oblige. They are waking up, but they’re also practicing vowel sounds. In math class.
Students are sitting in mixed groupings, and as the math instruction continues, Ms. Annie and I are going around to check for understanding. Students are speaking in Spanish, English, and Arabic. Students are helping each other, even using shared words when their primary languages aren’t the same. The co-teaching model for core subjects allows one teacher to focus on standard instruction, while Ms. Annie ensures all the ELs are following along and understanding the lesson.
The bell rings. Students funnel out of the classroom in their multi-color pajama sets and disperse into the maze of hallways at Andersen United Middle School. However, a group of students from the morning Algebra class stick together, walking as a group to a different section of the building. They are walking to “newcomer elective.”
Welcome to Minneapolis
Best known to the average American for the Mall of America and the eminent musical artist Prince, Minneapolis also has the less well-known distinction of being a city that has long welcomed immigrant and refugee communities. In 2023, about 9 percent of the population of Minnesota—roughly half a million people—were born outside the United States, and nearly 380,000 of those lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) alone. Among the largest immigrant and/or refugee origin groups in 2020 were the Ethiopian, Hmong, Mexican, and Somali communities.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who represents Minneapolis and the surrounding areas, often talks about her experience fleeing Somalia with her family at the age of 8 and living in a Kenyan refugee camp until her family moved to Minneapolis, where she attended Edison High School. Her story resonates with the nearly 87,000 Somali-Americans who call Minneapolis home, per 2021 American Community Survey data.
According to researchers from New American Economy, immigrants and refugees in Minneapolis in 2019 held $1.2 billion in spending power, about 11 percent of the spending power of the entire area. The counties that make up the Minneapolis metro area all hold “sanctuary” status, which means that they don’t collaborate with immigration enforcement authorities; moreover, Welcoming America, a national organization that designates local governments as “welcoming” if they align with a rigorous rubric of inclusive policies, has awarded the city of Minneapolis with a Certificate of Welcoming. And while advocates continue to push for additional policies and programs to support the diverse immigrant and refugee communities residing across Minneapolis, the city has decades of experience to build on, and several community-based organizations that make this easier, even in schools.
Andersen United Middle School—a “Place for Newcomers”
In central Minneapolis, Andersen United Middle School has seen the largest growth of newcomers in the district. Indeed, according to Andersen United’s multilingual learner lead and instructional coach, Laura Byard, the school started at about 1,000 students in the fall. Already in October, the school was 37 percent English learners (ELs), with twenty-five languages spoken. However, according to school-level data reported to the district, by early May, the school had enrolled about 150 newcomer students that year, increasing the EL count to 42 percent.1 That’s in addition to the 300 newcomers who had enrolled in the previous three years, according to the Sahan Journal.
“Andersen United has always been a place for newcomers,” says Laura Byard. It’s true. They proudly say so on their school homepage: “Andersen is proud to be the home of the community program, welcoming neighborhood students and the dual language pathway in the district. We also welcome students who are new to our country.” Since 2021, when Andersen switched to the grade configuration (grades six through eight) that it has today, it has outpaced the district EL average almost twofold. Indeed, in the 2023–24 school year, the EL count was just two percentage points shy of double the district’s 23 percent. Perhaps due to its central location, or its popular Spanish dual-language program and growing newcomer support system, Andersen continues to educate and nurture a large and diverse EL community.
While Andersen enrolls more ELs than the district, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) still enroll a higher percentage of ELs than the average U.S. school district. As of 2019–20, there were 5 million ELs in U.S. public schools, making up 10.4 percent of the student population. In that same year, ELs made up about 19 percent of Minneapolis public school students. To put that into perspective, that’s higher than New York City Schools, and about the same as Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
It’s important to note here that on average, nearly two-thirds of ELs are born in the United States, so EL counts aren’t generally a reliable proxy for newly arrived immigrant or refugee students. In an interview with Minneapolis Public Radio, the director of the MPS Office of Latine Achievement, Marion Tizon, explained that this lack of disambiguation is an intentional choice: “We are a sanctuary community,” she said, “so we do not track immigration status, nor the date that our students arrive in the country.” Instead, the district uses English language proficiency of their newly enrolled ELs to approximate the newcomer population. She says, “It’s around, right now, 2,500 newly enrolled Spanish speaking or home-language Spanish students, of which the majority are newcomers. And we know this because our first level of English language learning classes has gone up drastically since last year as well.” Additionally, growth in EL enrollment after the beginning of the year is often driven by newcomer ELs, and school-level data that TCF requested for this study confirm this was the case at Andersen.
Over the years, Andersen has developed school-wide programming to support its growing EL community, including a thriving Spanish dual-language program—the only middle school dual-language program in MPS. The placement of a dual-language program at Andersen is important, because emerging research suggests that well-implemented bilingual education programs and, in particular, two-way dual language immersion programs that integrate ELs and native English speakers in bilingual settings, appear to be especially effective ways to support ELs’ linguistic and academic development.
However, when Andersen received its first larger group of newcomers from South America—primarily Ecuador—in 2022–23, the school’s well-established systems were overwhelmed. Quickly, school leaders worked to shore up enough support for this new group of students, who brought with them many specific academic and social-emotional needs that required dedicated support. Andersen originally had six English as a second language (ESL)-certified teachers with a 50:1 EL student–teacher ratio. But with the sudden increase in enrollment, Andersen’s EL department decided that it was important to ensure students had some staffing consistency across their courses to address the questions and wraparound needs of newcomers while these students adjusted to the new norms of American schooling. Thus, they used their EL funding to pull Ms. Annie from her teaching position and “spread her” across all classes to co-teach core content and to serve as the “newcomer teacher,” leaving only five teachers to handle all English language development (ELD) level 1 and 2 classes and increasing the EL student-to-teacher ratio to 60:1.
This was a risky move, in part because some studies point to negative effects of large class sizes. However, in the case of Andersen, this approach, coupled with the implementation of a co-teaching model, a newcomer liaison, and an additional elective course for newly arrived students, has brought immeasurable success for Andersen’s newcomers.
Structuring the Newcomer Experience at Andersen
When a new student enrolls, Ms. Byard does intake, any necessary assessments, and provides a class schedule for the student. Then, Ms. Annie helps them access basic needs and services. Sometimes, that means calling a local immigration clinic to connect the family with important legal support. Other days, it looks like getting students school supplies, or taking them to the school’s “coat closet,” where they keep donated winter clothing for new students who arrive to the area unprepared for the region’s infamous low temperatures. Ms. Annie is the designated staff person who helps to answer questions about American schooling, course schedules, etc., and who addresses challenges they might face throughout the year. They are also matched with a former newcomer, a “buddy,” who can help them navigate the ins and outs of Andersen, and with whom they can eat lunch together, find the bus stop, and more. “The buddy system made me feel less alone when I first got here,” a student said. “I had a friend right away,” said another. Institutionalizing this practice made sense to Byard and Ms. Annie, because “newcomers are the best at knowing what other newcomers need.”
As discussed above, in her new role, Ms. Annie was tasked to co-teach in core content classes with high numbers of newcomer—not including ELD. Her role is to ensure that students in core content courses understand the material and receive the additional support they might need to be successful in those classes. Additionally, she was given a “newcomer elective” class—a period in which she would support students with several common newcomer needs and support their adjustment for their first year at Andersen.
Since starting this class in 2023, she began designing her own curriculum for her newcomer elective students focused on “culture” and “welcoming,” incorporating topics that are of interest to many of her students. In lessons such as “A History of Race in America,” students learn about history and sociology, consider ways their peers see them, and come up with tools to navigate the complexities of their identities here in the United States, and particularly in the Midwest. In lessons such as “Common American Holidays” and “Prom and School Dances in American Culture,” they discuss pop culture, listen to musical genres that are unique to the United States as well as in their home countries, and celebrate their own cultural and linguistic assets that they bring to the school.
Students receive an elective credit for this course, and they are graded for participation in class discussions, group projects, and individual assignments. Ms. Annie shared that she was especially proud of her students’ participation in the journal project, an opportunity for students to reflect on their first year in U.S. schools in any language of their choosing. Students are free to indicate whether they would like Ms. Annie to review a passage or not.
Ms. Annie’s class is a safe space for students to speak their home language, navigate the growing pains associated with big changes, connect with peers who are navigating Andersen for the first time like they are, and celebrate their own growth. Aside from a few giggles during instruction—typical of nearly every middle school classroom—this class was filled with eager, reflective, and hopeful students, determined to fulfill their potential in Minneapolis.
Supporting Newcomers beyond Academics
Throughout TCF’s visits to newcomer programs across the country, our researchers have noticed that specific programming to help newcomers adjust to their new school community is a common supplement to any program’s robust language development and rigorous core curriculum instruction.
For example, Coppell Independent School District, a medium-sized school district outside of Dallas, Texas, runs a “backpack program” to welcome students who are new to the United States—regardless of whether they are ELs or not. In the backpacks, students will find “world program” folders with information about Coppell and the United States, basic information about schooling in America, ideas of things to do at home, extra books at grade level to keep, and contact information for interpreters and EL/immigrant liaisons in the school. In addition to the backpack program, the district’s Department of Communications and Community Engagement offers bus tours of the community for newly enrolled families, and several online resources in multiple languages for parents and guardians to learn more and stay engaged.
Some districts offer a week-long orientation that covers similar contextual material, including relevant legal resources, to prepare students for success. Others have designated a “newcomer liaison,” similar to Ms. Annie’s role at Andersen, to support each newcomer with their adjustment to their new learning environment. Dedicating a full-time employee position is possible for Andersen because of the increased access to funding that comes from Minneapolis’s comparatively large newcomer population, and might not be easily replicated in other places; but the approach has been applied to a similar effect in other large districts. As another example, during the pandemic, Montgomery County used ESSER dollars to fund a coordinator position for unaccompanied minors.
Through different welcoming strategies, some smaller than others, schools and districts demonstrate that they are willing to create—and sustain—programming that aims to support newcomer students beyond just academics. Building on decades of research that establishes a sense of belonging is fundamental to well-being and academic success, they are focused on creating welcoming environments for new students and families by providing information and services to help them adjust to new environments, while ensuring students feel seen and welcome as their full selves.
Closing Out the Day with Ms. Annie
A week before Mother’s Day, I found myself in Ms. Annie’s newcomer elective class. About twenty students, predominantly from Ecuador, sat in twos and threes doing arts and crafts. The assignment: share your appreciation for a mother figure in your life.
Ms. Annie announced to the class in Spanish, “Today, we are celebrating mothers. How do you celebrate mothers in your hometown?” Students responded to their “elbow buddies” (those sitting next to them). The full prompt was, “Today we are learning about Mother’s Day in the United States. You will write a card or create artwork for a mother figure in your life.”
Two boys sitting at an oval table in the back corner sketched young mothers on cardstock that the teacher gave them. Two girls on the other end of the oval were folding thin pink paper to create a bouquet of flowers for a teacher. At the table next to them, a girl told me that she got to Minneapolis three months prior and enrolled in two schools before coming to Andersen. “I like this school better. They speak to me in Spanish and they are nice and I have friends here.”
“The students are new to the United States—some even arrived just days ago,” Ms. Annie said to me. “At Andersen, we are focused on teaching them content, but we’re also helping them adjust to their new home. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, it’s a perfect opportunity to compare what this celebration might look like in their home countries and what it means here.”
As the school year was coming to an end, students were preparing their final projects. Their task: design a cover for your life’s memoir—in this case, their class journal. Students were excited about using anime or watercolors for this project. The goal is for students to leave knowing they are valuable members of the school community.
When reflecting on her first two years in this role, Ms. Annie said she’s learned more about the role of community in achieving educational justice: “Working with newcomers helps to disrupt the characteristics of white supremacy culture in school, such as perfectionism,” she told me. “Our students don’t fit into any box. We can’t have urgency with their learning, and we navigate everything with collectivism, as a community.”
Notes
Tags: English as a second language, English Language Learners, newcomer students, national newcomer network