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GREENSBORO — After just six months of learning to speak English and
discovering American culture, the students at Newcomers School said goodbye to
friends and teachers.

In August, the first group of Newcomers students — about 233 children — will
begin attending middle schools and high schools across Guilford County.

Children from 32 countries attended Newcomers.

The students,
refugees and immigrants, work hard and are hungry to learn, Principal Jacob
Henry said.

"I’ve had kids say ‘thank you’ before, but it was the way they looked you in
the eye, the way they said it," Henry said. "It was a different sense of
gratitude."

When the next group of refugees and immigrants begin school, Newcomers will
be somewhat different. A new year-round schedule begins in July, and third and
fourth grades will be added.

Students will be in school for nine-week blocks, with two weeks of "Academic
Camp" in the fall and spring.

Also, students will have a three-week winter break.

During Academic Camp, students will go on field trips to learn about American
culture. They may go golfing, visit a fire department or go horseback riding,
Henry said. The children’s parents usually do not have the time, money or means
of transportation to show their children these things, and " they really don’t
have the exposure themselves to really know what’s available," he
said.

Henry said he and the staff were amazed by how much the students
learned during the school year. Usually people learning a new language go
through a silent period, he said.

"They were immediately willing to
speak and try," he said.

Often, students helped each other when teachers couldn’t figure out a way to
communicate something.

Newcomers became a place of great unity, Henry said. The staff had feared
that students would segregate by culture or native language, but that didn’t
happen.

"‘We’re all in this together,’ they’re all feeling that," Henry said.

About two-thirds of the students are refugees, and most of the immigrants
experienced extreme poverty in their homeland.

"They’re survivors," Henry said. "They survived day to day."

Staff will continue to teach English through content, such as science and
math lessons. But during the year staff realized students were learning much
faster than they had anticipated.

"We certainly learned a lot," Henry said.

High school students will have a block schedule, allowing more time for math,
science and literature. They’ll also take a freshman seminar class to prepare
them for the academic and social aspects they’ll face in traditional high
school.

"On a bigger scale, they’re really going to have to fend for themselves,"
Henry said.

Middle school students will be in multi-age classes, although there will be
an age difference of only one year among most students. Some students in grades
three through five also will be in multi-age classes.

"We think we’ll be
able to challenge them better," Henry said.

The school has added a full-time high school science teacher and a full-time
math teacher for middle school.

At the end of each school day, students will have a 30-minute block to
explore interests such as sports, drama, dance or chess. Henry said he hopes
some students will develop leadership skills by teaching crafts or dance from
their native countries to other students.

As students leave Newcomers to enter mainstream schools, staff will check on
their progress, academically and socially, and get feedback from them.

"We feel like we have to get feedback from them in order to improve our
program," Henry said.

Also, as students head to their new schools, staff will work to connect them
with a Newcomers student there who has already made the transition.

"Every student who leaves here should already have a friend at that
school...ready to take them under their wing," Henry said.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at jamie.kennedy@news-record.com or
449-4610.