Por: Gabby y Georgia

Learning a new language can be scary at first, especially when you are a young student or parent in a new school. It can be overwhelming to not understand, and it is easy to feel out of touch with their education. But New Paltz School District does its best to bridge the gap between the student’s and their homes, combining both in celebration. Together, we visited Duzine Elementary School to speak to three students in the English as a New Language program, as well as their teacher Ms. Bartlett about how the program really worked. 

“We have a translator in our district that we use all the time, and if there is something school oriented, or a newsletter goes home to the parents, we want to make sure they understand as well.” Says Ms. Bartlett, seated at her desk between colorful posters in her classroom. “We use a translation service so the letter will go out in spanish too.”

Ms. Bartlett emphasizes the importance of the connection between parents and their child’s education. She understands that a language barrier should not be a hurdle, and does her best to make everything easy. 

“If you don’t speak the language, and you don’t have resources, it’s hard to know how to advocate for yourself.” she says thoughtfully. “But I think New paltz does a good job in making sure there are translations, we have interpreters, and things get sent home in the second language.”

More than just translation though, is how students celebrate their culture within the classroom. In Duzine, the students we met with had family from El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru; however across the school district we have students from even more places across the world. Ms. Bartlett does her best to teach all cultures in the class, not just those that the students are a part of. 

“We always honor holidays.” she says. “If it’s Chinese New Years, or Lunar New Years, Day of the Dead, Three Kings Day…I also make sure the classroom teachers have the information they need to teach their students about it.”

Victor, Jillian, and Lucia talked excitedly about the posters they made, and the things they learned in class about different cultures and heritages throughout the school year. They laugh about their favorite foods, and holidays get quotes n sh

“Just recently the second graders made family flags hanging in the hallway.” Ms. Bartlett pointed by the door. “We did a whole study on their culture, their food, and their holidays.” 

Each student gets to learn more about their home country, or where they share their heritage, and in the end take all their projects home. The classroom and the halls were truly a welcoming place, made to make the children feel accepted. 

FInally, Ms. Bartlett also mentioned some programs outside of school, meant to help ENL students progress further. 

“There are after school programs; we have summer school which is open to all ENL students k-12. We also have Philly Bridge Farm, which partners with us in the summertime, so they save slots for students and can offer scholarships. It’s like a little summer camp.” Ms. Bartlett lists off a few. “There is also the Hudson Valley Writers Camp, which offers weeklong writing camps with a theme. More proficient students usually go to the Hudson Valley Writers Camp.”

Overall, Ms. Bartlett emphasizes the importance of parent-teacher connection, as well as parent-student connection when it comes to education. Through translators, and more, the ENL program in NPCSD does its best to make things easy and comfortable for everyone involved.