Refugee & Newcomer

Supports Program:
Spring 2019 Update
 Outline
 Overview of Refugee & Newcomer Supports
Program
 International Center
 Timeline and Program Highlights
 Newcomer Program at La Mesa Elementary School
 Internationals Network
 Next steps
 Needs
 Overview of Refugee
& Newcomer Supports
Program (RNSP)
 Refugee & Newcomer Supports
Program Manager
• Manages team of 3 case managers
and 4 specialists
• Point of contact for schools,
community partners and families
• Coordinates district-level supports for
newcomer/refugee students
• Facilitates community engagement
• Speaks Kinyarwanda
 Case Managers

Edmond Mwamba Dina Raheem Mohammad Ismail

Democratic Rep. of Congo Iraq Afghanistan
Speaks Swahili, French, Speaks Arabic Speaks Dari, Farsi,
Lingala and Tshiluba Pashto and Urdu/Hindi
 Refugee Case Managers

• District-wide
• Focus on schools with highest
need
• Parent engagement, student
support, school support, teacher
support
• (e.g., summer school, PD, cultural
liaison, connecting with APS
services like FAST, new student
enrollment and support)
• Multi-lingual (12 languages total)
 Newcomer Specialists

• 4 Refugee Specialists
• 3 specialists are based out of a single school site:
• La Mesa ES, Van Buren MS, Highland HS
• 1 district-level specialist works with multiple schools
• Currently Lowell & Del Norte
• Provides in classroom supports by working collaboratively with teachers to
structure lessons and provided cultural/linguistic support in the classroom
• NOT an interpreter for child but supports their academic and social needs
• Provides linguistic-cultural supports to schools by:
• Engaging families and facilitating communication
• Provides PD and supports teachers/staff
 Newcomer Specialists

Mbarak Hussein Chantal Muhumure Farida Ibrahim Parwin Hussaini

Highland High School La Mesa Elementary Van Buren Middle School Multiple Schools
Kenya Rwanda Kenya Afghanistan
Speaks Swahili Speaks Swahili, French, Speaks Swahili Speaks Dari, Farsi and
Kinyarwanda, Urdu
Kinyamulenge, Kibembe
and Kirundi
APS International
Center
Located at La Mesa Elementary School
Grand Opening on March 28th
 Vision
To create meaningful connections between
refugees/newcomers, local communities, APS,
and public and private organizations that
support refugees/newcomers in education and
developing self-sufficient and fulfilling lives.
 Mission
School Connectivity
Cultural Connectivity
Community Connectivity
 International Center

• International Library
• Children’s reading books in Swahili,
Kinyarwanda, Dari, Farsi, Vietnamese,
Arabic
• English Acquisition Center
• Beginning Summer of 2019
• Community events and meeting space
• Summer College Readiness Camp with
Catholic Charities, July 15-19
• Hosted Global 505 on May 17th
• Office space for case managers
Timeline of Events &
Highlights
 Refugee Program Timeline
 1.7 – RNSP became fully staffed
 Refugee Program Timeline
 1.7 – RNSP became fully staffed
 2.7- First of six TELL trainings
 Teaching English Language
Learners (TELL) Training
 In collaboration with APS Language
and Cultural Equity Department
 6 trainings provided to Refugee &
Newcomer Supports Program and
community partners from:
 Refugee Well-being Project
 Lutheran Family Services
 Catholic Charities
 Vizionz-Sankofa
 NM Asian Family Center
 Refugee Program Timeline
 1.7 – RNSP became fully staffed
 2.7- First of six TELL trainings
 2.9 – First of four Parent Engagement Meetings with Catholic Charities
 3.1 – Developed protocol for refugee student enrollment and SLIFE identification in
collaboration with Lutheran Family Services Education Coordinator
 3.11-3.15 –Spring Break College Readiness Camp in collaboration with Catholic Charities
 3.28 – International Center Grand Opening
 4.24 – Visited Oakland International High School with team of 6 APS representatives
 5.4 - Completed last Parent Engagement meeting
 5.7 – Completed last TELL training
 5.15 – Approved for Title I funding for parent engagement
La Mesa Elementary
School Newcomer
Program
 La Mesa Newcomer Program
 Newcomer teacher: Natalie Perez (K-5)
 Specialized ESL instruction for all newcomer students by grade level
 Newcomer teacher (recent arrivals, less than one year): Elizabeth Bradford
 Contextualized content-based instruction
 Specialist: Chantal Muhumure
 In-classroom support for recently arrived students
 Daily contacts parents and families
 ELD Resource Teacher: Terese Bridges (Language & Cultural Equity Dept.)
 Providing in-classroom support for all ELLs
 Monthly coordination meetings
 Coordination with International Center and Case Management as needed
 La Mesa Newcomer Program
 Successes:
 Students have very rapidly improved academically (working with SAPR to analyze)
 Behavior issues have dramatically improved and are quickly addressed.
Communication with parents and families has been improved
 Parents now regularly attend school events and come to the school as needed
 Many parents have expressed an interest in transferring their students to the
Newcomer Program
 Challenges:
 Low enrollment due to lateness of program. Parents did not want to transfer
students after the fall semester began.
 Transportation is provided to families in one area of town but other families are
unable to transfer to the program due to transportation
Internationals Network
and visit to Oakland International High School
 Internationals Network

• Network of 28 schools throughout the

U.S. for recently arrived immigrant
ELLs
• Evidence-based methodology
• Headquarters in NYC
• Students are all recently arrived
immigrant ELLs
• Inclusive of all students based on
need, not immigration status (i.e.,
refugee vs. immigrant)
• Oakland International High School is
closest school to NM
 Oakland International High School
• Dr. Gabriella Blakey – Associate
Superintendent for leadership
and learning (Zone 1)
• Marco Harris – Highland HS
Principal
• Brandon Baca – Refugee &
Newcomer Program Manager
• Edmond Mwamba – Refugee Case
Manager
• Ann Swickard – District ELL Coach
• Michelle Perez – ELD Teacher at
Highland High School
 Oakland International High School
• Highlights
• 400+ students, 3 dozen languages
• Evidence-based and part of 28 Internationals Network schools
throughout the nation
• All teachers have a teacher coach
• Receive outside funding to keep class size small
• 38% of students are SLIFE (at least 2 years behind)
• SLIFE classes (survival English) are key component to curriculum
• Many unaccompanied minors
• Full-service Community School: Restorative justice, mental health,
community walks, home visits, case management etc.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=122&v=KOi1edc
bkiw
Next Steps
 Next steps
 Continue partnership with Internationals Network to conduct needs
assessment in Fall 2019 and another site visit to Oakland or San Francisco
 Support families who want to enroll at La Mesa Newcomer Program and
begin parent engagement workshops with funding from Title I
 Work with SAPR to better structure SIS to easily pull data
 Work with NMPED to utilize funding for newcomer students
 Develop volunteer training tailored to serving refugee/newcomer
students, recruit volunteers
 Partner with Families Connected to create videos for refugee and
newcomer families
 Next Steps
 Schedule Professional Development on Refugee 101 and Teaching
Multi-cultural Learners for Sy19/20
 Increase support in High School and Middle School
 Develop district strategy for identifying and assessing SLIFE
 Continue efforts to shift the narrative to serve all newcomers based
on academic and soci0-cultural needs as opposed to immigration
status
 Increase accountability to ensure all ELLs, including newcomers and
SLIFE, are receiving the services they are entitled to
 Thank You!
Brandon Baca
Refugee & Newcomer Supports Program
Manager
Office of Equity and Engagement

brandon.baca@aps.edu
505-803-7781