When Tar Pay Pay walked in to Nottingham High School in September, he knew how to say his name and phone number in English, and that was about it. Two months later, 14-year-old Tar Pay, from Myanmar, reads and writes simple sentences. He excels in math and continues the slow process of adapting to the U.S. school system.

Tar Pay is one of 11 students in Nottingham High School’s recently installed Newcomers Program. The Newcomers Program, which is within the English as a Second Language program, was founded last year to ease and aid the transition of students in their first year in the country. He joins 3,000 limited or non-English-speaking students enrolled in the Syracuse City School District’s English as a Second Language program.

Syracuse schools have one of the highest refugee populations in the United States, and the number of immigrants enrolled has doubled from 10 years ago. Limited English speakers now make up 12 percent of the district.

‘We have students who are brand new arrivals who come without speaking a word of English all the way up to students that we term beginner or intermediate,’ said Jackie LeRoy, who works as a teacher’s aide in the English as a Second Language program, which started 20 years ago. ‘Our goal is to give them intensive literacy and content skills to prepare them to move into a regular setting.’

The district serves students speaking 71 different languages. Places of origin include Asia, Russia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

‘It’s very hard to predict what our population will be here in the next five to 10 years. It all depends on what’s happening in the world,’ LeRoy said.

Once enrolled in the English as a Second Language program, students stay until they pass state proficiency guidelines, which the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test measures. Typically the students spend six years in school.

For Tar Pay, it may not take that long, said his teacher Alfredo Gomez, who teaches the Newcomers Program at Nottingham High School.

When the bell rings, Gomez ushers confused and lagging students into his classroom. An alphabet strip lines the white board, world maps cover the walls and a large stack of flash cards with simple words — boots, boat, ball, bat — sit on the projector, within easy reach.

Monday began the ninth week of the Newcomers Program — Gomez will teach 11 limited or non-English speaking high school students English and math.

The students feel at home here, Gomez said. Or as at home as they can feel, plucked from refugee camps and placed in a new country. They rarely miss school, unless it’s for a medical appointment, immunization or refugee-assistance appointment.

Gomez watches the students take their seats and notices one Thai boy in the doorway. It’s his second day of school. He arrived in the country two weeks ago.

‘Sit here, my friend,’ Gomez said as he motioned for the boy to sit down.

The agenda for the day included a listening activity, family vocabulary and then a quiz. Even in a room of limited English speakers, the last listed item gets a communal groan.

‘It’s all about patience, patience, patience,’ said Tom Hewitt, who works as a teaching assistant in Gomez’s class. ‘He’ll go over the same thing week after week if they don’t get it, and with the same enthusiasm.’

In class, Gomez goes to help Saukri, an eager young woman from Somalia who misread the No. 2 for the No. 5. ‘Sometimes you want to go faster than your brain. Don’t try to go too fast, my friend, take your time,’ Gomez said.

When a student enters the Newcomers Program, Gomez gets a package compiled by Catholic Charities, the local refugee center, or another organization that sponsors the student.

‘I see how long they’ve been in the country, how long they lived in a camp, and if they went to school, what grades they got,’ Gomez said. ‘Every country has different curriculum, but it’s important to know their background.’

Gomez knows to keep the lesson quick and logical. Especially important for days when the class learns family tree vocabulary. The glossy workbooks picture a smiling grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, son and daughter.

‘Many of these students have had a father or a family member killed,’ Gomez said. ‘When I go through the family tree, I go fast. I talk in general, not specifics, and avoid directly referencing them or their parents.’

The role of an English as a Second Language classroom is also about building trust, said Marilyn Machado, a second-year teaching assistant in the Newcomers Program. She came to the United States from Cuba 13 years ago.

‘I love to see the different cultures people come from and help them because I’m one of them, too,’ she said. ‘It’s important with them to act like you’re one of them, so they can be confident and comfortable enough to make mistakes.’

Gomez and other English as a Second Language teachers are tired of taking blame for low state-standardized test scores. Sure, limited and non-English speakers may bring district test scores down, Gomez said, but the problem is with the test, not the English as a Second Language program. Gomez called the method the state uses for testing English as a Second Language students ‘completely unfair.’

The New York Education Department gives English as a Second Language students one year before they have to take an English assessment test. But a student arriving in September 2010 would have to take the test in May 2011, Gomez said.

‘You’re going to try to test a kid who’s been in the state less than a year? Come on. You can’t expect that. And they do,’ she said.

At the end of the day, Gomez worries about the students lagging behind. One student in particular may end up in a special education classroom soon. He hasn’t grasped letters or numbers in two months, and Gomez doesn’t know if it’s culture shock or a learning disability.

‘I just wish I knew some strategy to help him,’ Gomez said.

jmterrus@syr.edu

 

Published on November 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm