Dec. 9, 2015 -- Over the past three years, the Noble neighborhood has seen an influx of Bhutanese refugee families. Since 2012, Noble Elementary has seen a 150% increase in their English Language Learner students. When it became clear that the newcomer parents wanted to be more involved, the language barrier demanded attention.
Thanks to a three-year 21st Century Grant, language and literacy is becoming less of a problem at Noble and more a community building tool. With 32 English Language Learner (ELL) students at Noble, the grant helps inside the classroom, but the benefits reach far beyond the walls of the school. The grant, written by the district, is a perfect example of what is possible for wraparound services, or Community Learning Centers.
Peer to Peer Mentoring and Literacy Support
Teaching is usually an effective way to learn. The 21st Century Grant has funded a Peer to Peer Mentoring program (P2P), which pairs an ELL student with a native English speaker who needs extra help in literacy. Native students testing less than a year below grade level benefit from the repeated practice of language skills they lack, and act as role models. ELL students gain an adult supervised entry into English from someone their own age, and a cultural lesson at the same time.
P2P students have extended academic and literacy opportunities Monday - Thursday 7:30-8:30 a.m., where they also enjoy universal free breakfast. Afterschool enrichment is available Monday – Thursday, from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. as well, with classroom teachers staffing the program on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Because the teachers are familiar with the kids and their needs, the students get a double dose of the specific skills they need to practice.
Noble also features an on-site Ink Spot afterschool program from Lake Erie Ink. Paid for through a CDBG Neighborhood Block Grant from the City of Cleveland Heights, the program allows 20 4th and 5th grade students to enjoy afterschool creative writing and homework help on Tuesdays and Thursdays through summer 2016, and likely into next year.
Because about 95% of ELL students are Bhutanese, a dedicated interpreter is on site and is funded through Title 3. Additionally, part-time ELL teacher Wendy Craven helps the Bhutanese students as well as the Arabic, Latino and Russian ELL students at Noble.
Partnerships and Wraparound Refugee Support
The harder to quantify cultural shifts are the most interesting, though. It was standing room only at Noble’s first PTA meeting this year. The PTA potluck in November was also packed, and an interpreter was on hand to serve the many Bhutanese families in attendance.
“The kids are more socially aware now,” said Noble principal Rachael Coleman. “The Bhutanese families are more comfortable, getting involved in meetings, accepting invitations, giving feedback. They want the same as everyone else; it’s our job to remove the language barrier.”
Beyond language and literacy help, there is a tremendous amount of support for refugee families. Us Together is a refugee resettlement organization and resource for the families in the Noble neighborhood. The organization helps their clients with medical issues, housing and any other obstacle a refugee family might encounter while trying to make a life in a new country and community. Us Together acts as a wraparound liaison, communicating family needs to the school.
Danielle Drake, Community Relations Manager for Us Together explained the context of the Bhutanese refugees in Cleveland Heights.
“You’d have to go back more than 100 years to understand the full story, but the Bhutanese families entering the United States over the past 10 years come from U.N. refugee camps,” said Drake. “When 100,000 Bhutanese people were expelled in 1991, no neighboring country offered asylum. They eventually settled under the care of the U.N. in the camps in 1991. International plans were finally solidified to resettle them around 2005.”
An entire generation of children grew up in the camps, and had children of their own. Some of those children now attend Noble.
Drake says that many families in the Noble neighborhood have been settled there to be closer to family who had settled prior.
“Refugee families without local family might also be settled on the East side to be close to the Us Together office, so they can easily receive the support they need,” added Drake. “We are finding some pretty startling outcomes. For every $1 we invest in refugee services, we are seeing a $10 return on investment. We never imagined that kind of return. Our clients are becoming great citizens, and great Americans.”
“Noble is a living part of the neighborhood.”
Building community is a community effort, and Noble seems to have hit its stride. Of the Noble faculty and staff, Principal Coleman says, “I’ve never seen a more dedicated group of people. They do the hard work. I manage the hard work, but they do the hard work.” Add in the efforts of the Noble PTA, Us Together and it’s an impressive collaboration.
If only it ended there. Add in the professors and students from Case Western volunteering to work with ELL families; Refugee Response’s in-home tutoring; the Clothing Pantry open daily to serve Noble families; the Newcomers Program, a 2-hour-long workshop for ELL families on how to navigate the school before enrollment; and the Noble Neighbors group who regularly volunteers in the school.
Noble has convened an enviable community-building powerhouse.
“All of this results in a vibrant community, a true neighborhood school. There’s game night, the Boots and Books donation drive, the book fair. Noble is a living part of the neighborhood,” said Coleman. “What we are doing is a work in progress; but every day, we do what’s best for kids. Our test scores will show that eventually.”
Principal Intern Denise Williams sums up the goals perfectly. “Coming from a health care background, we were always trying to treat the whole patient. Noble does a really good job of serving the whole child and the whole family.”