The mission statement for Curtis reads: Curtis High School will be a nurturing community where all of its members will have the desire and the opportunity to achieve to their fullest potential. With this in mind, Curtis faculty try to break down many of the barriers their multilingual learners encounter. This in turn, gives them an equitable chance in achieving their fullest potential. As of mid October, approximately 40 students have arrived at Curtis from various parts of the world. Last year, Curtis received about 40 students during the entire school year.
Ms. Grullon, who is the English as a New Language (ENL) coordinator, and who is also a world language teacher deals with students arriving from other countries. Her role as the ENL coordinator is to welcome students (and their families) who are new to the NYC department of education. Specifically, those who may speak a language other than English at home. This is her 15th year teaching Spanish but third year as the ENL coordinator. The majority of Curtis newcomers are Spanish speakers. Ms. Grullon said communicating with these new students and their families is easy because Spanish is her mother language. Ms. Grullon’s role of ENL coordinator is to oversee student placement in the program which their parent/guardian chose after completing an English language evaluation through the NYSITELL (New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners).
It is very difficult for newcomers to adapt with the new language, but Curtis is offering a bilingual program for Spanish speaking students which allows them to transition into the English language. They also have an English as a New Language program for those who speak a language other than Spanish. Both programs provide an additional English support class. Curtis is currently having several after-school supports such as Newcomers’ Club that meets every Wednesday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in room 422. And also have an ELA Literacy program that meets every Monday and Thursday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in room 422 and tutoring from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays in room 421. In addition to the academic support, the school will distribute either Ipads or laptops to each new student, so they have access to translators while they’re in school.
Curtis is leaning a lot on technology to help them communicate with students. The school has purchased Pocketalks to help communicate with students and families who speak other languages. Pocketalks are small devices that help students translate both written and spoken English into 84 different languages. TalkingPoints is an app that can also be used to message families to keep them updated about school events and other important information. The app is able to send messages in English and the families of our MLLs (multilingual language learners) receive the message in their mother tongue.
Beyond academic support, Curtis also has a food pantry and laundry cards for all students who may need assistance.
Why is Curtis helping these new students? For Ms Grullon it’s personal, “My parents brought me to this country when I was 5 years old so I’m very familiar with feeling isolated because of the language barrier. I can also relate to many other struggles our newcomers and their families face. Being able to understand their struggles drives me to of help in every way possible. Many of them have experienced very difficult, traumatic events to get here so if I can bring the tiniest piece of tranquility/ease to their school life, I’m happy to do so.”
