ELL Family Media Center Grand Opening

By Marisa Tesoro

The Nahed Chapman New American Academy has a new ELL Family Media Center, as announced at its grand opening November 16.  

The center was partially funded by the Refugee School Impact grant, and it’s designed to help families access, learn, and engage in their child’s learning through technology.  

Alla Gonzalez Del Castillo, ESOL Director with St. Louis Public Schools, explained that those interested can access the internet, Microsoft suite, printing capabilities, driving test practice, citizenship practice or keyboarding. Parents can also learn computer literacy skills with curriculum available in different age topics as well as several languages, such as English, Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, Dari, Pashto, and Farsi. 

Parents at the grand opening expressed their gratitude and appreciation for these resources, with some addressing the crowd of nearly 70 people. SLPS staff, clients and former clients of the International Institute and MO-ORA staff showed up to celebrate this advancement.  

“It's really a collaborative effort,” Gonzalez Del Castillo said in an interview with SLPS. “So we really need to be thinking about our students, our parents, and our teachers and how we all work together for ELL success. So parents are a critical part of that.” 

Started in 2010, Nahed Chapman serves students in grades K-8 and “prepares incoming immigrant and refugee children for a new life in St. Louis by teaching them English while keeping them on curriculum with their fellow American students at other schools,” according to ifm-stl.org. Students at Nahed Chapman speak more than 15 languages and can attend this school for up to 4 semesters before transitioning to an ESOL Center School, according to navigatestlschools.org. 

The school’s goals align well with one of the central goals of the Refugee School Impact program, which is to “ensure that ORR-eligible children are prepared to succeed in formal schooling, promote access to childcare, strengthen academic performance, and aid the social adjustment of newly arriving refugee youth and their families.” 

MO-ORA's Shawn Cockrum, Refugee School Programs Manager, has been working with the Refugee School Impact grant for years and worked closely with Nahed herself when she started the school.  

“It’s just better for the students, for newcomers, to attend this school because of the people they’re surrounded by and the availability of resources at that school,” Cockrum said. “It’s always been the greatest part of whatever job I’ve had—when you go to the schools and see what they do with the funding and resources you provide. It’s always beyond expectation, so that’s the greatest thing. And then you get to see the children who were involved and their growth. And it never ceases to be beyond what I expect.”