School provides information night to multilingual families
ENL Parents participating on the contest for gift cards before the meeting on Set. 20 on Cafe A. Photo by Carolina Puga Mendoza
September 23, 2016
Students from various countries come with little or no knowledge of the english language. The ENL (English as a New Language) department created a parent night for families with limited english knowledge, in order to help them understand how the school system works.
“Those of us in the ENL departament of Hamilton Southeastern schools felt that parents of ENL students, do not feel comfortable coming to a regular open house,” english teacher Sheri Dimos said. “They don’t have a way to speak to the teachers, so we want them to feel comfortable in the school.”
The parent night for ENL students teaches about how Skyward, Blackboard, GPA, college and scholarships works. Flyers are sent to the families in order to determine which language is spoken in the family so translators can be hired.
“Like an open house, it’s a way for us to establish contact and then, usually parents feel more conformable contacting us by email or phone if they need to talk to someone at the school,” Dimos said.
Businesses from the community attend to provide information and promote their work, as well as organizations who give information for english classes. To encourage attendance, there is a door prize at the beginning of the meeting, the winners will receive gift cards from local restaurants.
For more information about the ENL also known as the ESL (English as a Second Language) click here!