Immigrant Parents Get Bilingual School Tips

Here’s a quick question you may answer in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Mandarin Chinese, or the various dialects of Sudan, India, and Ghana: All told, How many languages are spoken by children in the New Haven Public School (NHPS)?

Answer: Those just mentioned and some 33 others making a grand total of 42- — and growing — in our city (and country) of immigrants.

Hector Arroyo (left to right in the top photo), Patricia Gantenbein, and Rick Abbatiello were among some two dozen people at Saturday morning’s congenial Conferencia Bilingue Annual Para Padres, the annual bilingual parent get-together to acquaint New Haven families of the wide range of learning options available to their children of all ages in the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS). Arroyo was this year’s conference organizer. Gantebein is one of three ESL reading ​“coaches,” that is, teacher trainers in the system that works with some 2,600 kids at various levels of English language proficiencies. And Board of Education member Rick Abbatiello brought greetings from the superintendente de escuelas, Dr. Reginald Mayo.

The mayor’s deputy chief of staff, Paul Nunez, took time out to help this young Spanish-speaking Fair Haven family fill out applications for their first-ever library cards. ​“One of the things I love most about this city,” he said, ​“especially Fair Haven, is how welcoming I sense people are.” Nunez recalled that his parents brought him to Hartford from Puerto Rico when he was 8 years old. ​“Both my parents were born on the island,” he said. ​“My mother spoke mainly Spanish, but my dad, had worked in New York and spoke English well.” Nunez had one year of ESL assistance; that was all he needed.

Today, the range of English language learning options for the kids in the NHPS is much more specialized and varies widely. That was the point of the conference. ​“A lot of our parents,” said Gantenbein, who came to New Haven from Mexico at age 14, ​“don’t know the choices and that the choice is up to them. When they learn of them, some choose a transitional bilingual model for their child, where content is taught in both the native language and English up to 30 months, with gradually increasing teaching time in English. This is available mainly in Spanish, with one school, Hooker middle, offering it in Chinese Mandarin.

“Then there’s a second model, ESL, where the child learns in a normal all-English classroom, but is taken out — or sometimes staff enters the class — and he’s given language support this way. Then there is yet another strategy called ​“sheltered content,” in which the specific content is taught with native language support.”

How, asked a reporter, would an ESL or bilingual teacher who may know Spanish (the far dominant language group in the programs) but not Turkish or Russian or Mende work with a young student who speaks only this language? ​“Well,” answered Lillian Oquendo, the ESL instructional coach for high school, ​“in this and all our work we use research-based methods of all kinds. Much of it comes down to thinking out loud, and then saying out loud with the student. This is modeling, a key thing. If we have several students speaking a language and one is more proficient than the other, we group them. There’s also a lot of graphic, visual work as well.”

“Finally,” added Gadenbein, ​“there’s a newcomer program specifically designed for kids just off the plane, so to speak. And one of our most popular programs, is the dual language immersion, where the goal is dual language proficiency, in English and Spanish, whereas all the others seek proficiency only in English. Currently the dual language immersion is offered only at two schools, here at Daniels and also at the Columbus Family Academy.”

“Look,” she said, ​“all these options are important because language is intimate, and kids learn it differently and in different ways. Some kids are OK with immersion. Others, for a variety of reasons, sometimes emotional, like kids here from war-town countries, the approach must be tailored.” Gantenbein said there is growing population of kids from Sudan and other parts of Africa ravaged by civil wars. ​“The variety is there so the families can see what suits best and the kids can attain academic excellence; that’s the goal.”

“If you really want to get a twinkle in your eye,” said Abbatiello, ​“spend a little time, as I do, in the basement of the East Rock Magnet school. Their wonderful ESL teachers have the kids for special instruction pulled out of their classes. And there are kids from Ghana, and girls with, you know, bindis, the marks on their foreheads, and others with veils speaking Arabic, and refugees from Sudan, and they are all celebrating birthdays and learning the language.

“Many of these teachers bring the kids home to their houses on Thanksgiving, so they learn the language along with the traditions. I was there once, when they were cooking, and talking, of course, Thanksgiving dinner, when one boy from Sudan took the turkey out of his backpack. I support these teachers all I can. They’re really wonderful.”

One of them, Maria Tecocoztzi, a bilingual teacher from the John Martinez School, was on hand to do a little work with the kids, just in case they were not at the moment as interested in the conference as their parents. (Right to right) Charles Naula, age eight from Martinez, his sister Mary, age 6, and their pal Gustavo Guttierez, age 8 from the Fair Haven School, were having their own mini-conference, in English and Spanish, on what animals they wanted to read about. The boys ended up choosing giraffe books, and Mary a zebra.

The kids test out of the ESL and bilingual assistance not only through demonstrating proficiency in language but in academic performance as well. Then they exit from the program. For more information about the ESL and Bilingual Program, the contact is Dr. Jose Ortiz at this email address or at 946‑8685.

Abbatiello, in his remarks to the parents, concluded: ​“My parents were immigrants from Italy. We lived on East Street. My parents spoke mainly Italian and some English at home, and back then at Fair Haven School and Cross, they just threw you in. There was nothing like you have here today. Go home tonight, parents, and give your children a hug and tell them they have a lot of wonderful people caring about them in the New Haven School system.”