PARENTS ARE LEARNING THE LANGUAGE, TOO!

Hundreds of students come each year to enroll in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD from countries around the world. Each summer, the school district provides a Learning the Language summer program for students who have been in the United States for less than one year.

"This year we have 470 children new to this country enrolled in our summer program," said Imelda Alcala, principal for the LTL summer school. "We decided to add a parent component to encourage parents to not only learn the language themselves, but also to volunteer at school as a welcomed presence."

Parents from Peru, Mexico, and Cambodia spend part of each day in their children's classrooms. Then they come into CFBISD teacher Linda Mahony's classroom to learn and practice English grammar and pronunciation.

In addition, parents are learning how to help their children in school by reading with them and including math problems at home. Parents also learned about the importance of good nutrition to brain and physical health. Ms. Mahony is teaching the parents what to expect as their children go through middle school and high school, in addition to how to apply for scholarships and financial aid for college.

Parents have also learned how to apply for a job and social services, how to write letters to landlords and how to study for the Texas driver's license test.

"Learning how we do things in the United States makes the transition so much smoother for parents and children," added Alcala, "and we are doing everything in our power to make sure these kids are successful in school."

CAPTION FOR PHOTO:

Back row: Teacher Linda Mahony, Esperanza Moreno, Akeakmony Yi, Diana Sanchez, Mariella Beltran, Patricia Martinez-Esparza. Front row: Chhenghuoy Bun and Griselda Herrera.

Sincerely,

Linda Mahony

(972) 467-3624 cell