Schools are struggling how to best teach immigrant and refugee children without segregating them from the mainstream. Many of the students feel more comfortable in the small classes and don't fit into the big school routines. DP
Immigration » Schools balance student needs with desire to belong
By Al Hartmann / The Salt Lake
Jeff Sorensen's students are wary of strangers.
A mix of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from impoverished and war-torn countries, they thrive on routine.
"Fire drills terrify them," said Sorensen, taking pains one afternoon to explain why a newspaper reporter had dropped by. As if on cue, a student asked, "La migra?"
"He thinks you're an immigration officer," Sorensen explained.
Sorensen's "newcomers" program at Glendale Middle School is meant to ease non-English speaking refugees and immigrants into their new surroundings. Students of the school within a school are segregated from the regular student body most of the day, enjoying specialized instruction and smaller class sizes.
But a community activist alleges the program isolates kids and constitutes a form of "institutional racism."
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