Student portrait, art class at High School of Language and Innovation
As a school for newcomer immigrant English Language Learners, our students come from all over the world: Dominican Republic, Yemen, Bangladesh, several countries in Africa, Albania, China, Vietnam, to name a few.
However, we don’t know much about school in our students’ countries. Recently, I decided to simply ask: what was learning like in your country?
I was prompted to do this because our school had visitors last week. A group of new teachers were touring the school to learn best practices for supporting English Language Learners.
As part of the visit, I organized a student panel with two of my teachers. The teachers choose five 9th and 10th graders and ensured they represented several countries: Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Albania. The students had lived in the U.S. anywhere from 4 months to 2 years. Continue reading
What impacts student learning? Teachers, school leaders, counselors, parent-school partnerships. Access to quality books and materials, curriculum.
A couple of weeks ago, Sami arrived at our 
Jeetu, a 12th-grade boy, sat in my office, eager to talk.
I find my students touching, and often cute. However, in thinking of them as “cute,” I don’t always see their wisdom.
As the principal of a high school that serves newcomer English Language Learners, I track many pieces of students data: progress with English, attendance, participation in clubs and sports, grades, test scores, etc.
