DANBURY, Conn.: Parents of English language learners were at attention in the Danbury High School library media center, taking a crash course in the school rules and getting homework of sorts that could help their children succeed.
School officials talked about the discipline code, attendance rules and how students are graded, as well as supports available to students, during the nearly two-hour workshop, mainly presented in Spanish.
“This shows you are interested in the education of your child,” Heather Pellicone, organizer of the program and head of the English as a Second Language/World Language Department, told the nearly 50 parents who attended the event.
The change in the school’s population and the growing needs of the students drove school officials this year to expand upon the workshop, which was first presented last year. In October 2006, there were 356 English language learners, of which 39 percent were poor. This year, there are 399 ELL students, and 78 percent are classified as poor. In the same time, the number of Hispanic students at the school increased from 727 to 976.
Pellicone said an increasing number of students enter high school with little or no previous formal education in their home country.
High school parent Maryangela Amendola spoke Spanish and English as she told parents about the School Governance Council, a group of parents, community members and educators who advise the principal on improving the school. She explained that the state required the council be established because the high school’s test scores were not adequate.
“Your kids need to go to school,” Amendola said. “They have to go 12 years and they have to graduate. If your kids do not attend school they will have a hard time graduating and if they don’t graduate they will have a hard time getting a job.”
It’s “muy importante” for children to attend school, guidance counselor Julie Jimenez said in Spanish, and she urged parents not to take a family vacation back to their home lands when school is in session.
Jimenez said after-school tutoring is available on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and a late bus that would take the kids home. She urged parents to keep their phone numbers up to date on school records and to communicate with the teachers.
Three graduates of the high school and Western Connecticut State University told parents about services at the Hispanic Center to help parents and students apply for college and financial aid.
“It’s very important to have communication with schools and parents,” Nelson Nygra, a parent of a 12th grader, said after the program. “The only way to know how kids are doing is if parents talk to the teachers.”
Parent Marco Zambrano said the workshop was a good idea.
“My son is only four months in this country. He has to take English,” Zambrano said. “He likes school but it’s hard for him. He doesn’t speak English.”
Neris Jimez said the school is doing very well for her son, Melquisedec Paulino, a 15-year-old who came from Dominican Republic two years ago and attended the workshop with his parents.
“He’s been learning to speak English quickly,” his mother said. “They’re helping. I know that.”
Principal Gary Bocaccio told parents he wanted them to have links that would help them communicate with faculty.
“We know from research that when parents are involved in their child’s education, the child does much better in school,” Bocaccio said.
He said people at school could speak with them in their native tongue to help them with any problem they have.
Jimenez said because students have more needs, the school created a new acculturation class this year. Students will learn things like the culture of the school, how to approach a teacher to ask a question and how call out sick, she said.
“Sometimes it’s not natural for them because they didn’t have any formal education before,” she said. -AP
