by Jen Myers, Lowell Public Schools
Early last fall, Moody Elementary School Principal Robbie Keefe began talking about holding nighttime conversational English classes for parents at her school. More than 60 percent of the student population at the school speak a first language other than English. She never imagined the response her idea would receive from the community.
The Lowell Public Schools’ Family Leadership Institute kicked off its first 6-week, 12-session Survival English Conversational Course on February 6. There are 150 participants registered for this inaugural class, who were given the option of attending a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday class. Each class runs from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. and are being held simultaneously at the Greenhalge, Moody, and Robinson Schools, as well as at Lowell High School’s McDonough Freshman Academy.
The purpose of this class is to empower non-English speaking Lowell Public Schools’ parents/guardians to improve two-way communication with their child’s school and learn how to better advocate for their child’s education. It is not a substitute for more intensive English classes, which are available through the district’s Abisi Adult Education Center.
Keefe said both Betty McKiernan, Director of the Abisi Adult Education Center, and Phala Chea, the district’s former English Language Education Coordinator, were instrumental in getting the program off the ground. Keefe said many of the families at her school work multiple jobs or second-shift and are unable to commit the amount of time required to attend classes at Adult Education; however, she is hoping that once they complete this brief course they may want to take the next step and find ways to take additional classes.
At 5:50 p.m. on Monday, a line of parents waited patiently to sign-in, chatting in their native languages. Many spoke Portuguese, others conversed in Spanish, Arabic, or Vietnamese. They all looked excited and a little nervous, like all students on their first day of school.
“The interest has been unbelievable,” said Keefe. “I think they are really going to love this class.”
Keefe explained she recently visited Montreal and felt a little lost in a place where she couldn’t read the street signs or order from a menu. But, she knew she could always find someone there who could speak English so it wasn’t that big of an issue. She said she cannot imagine how daunting it must be for families who come to Lowell from another country not knowing the language or customs.
“They need to be able to advocate for themselves and their children and this class is the first step,” she said.
Moody School teacher Fatima DeSousa said these classes will lift entire families up.
“This will empower parents to make better choices about the education of their children,” she said. “By empowering parents, we can increase student achievement. These classes will also lead to better opportunities for the parents themselves.”
Once checked-in, the new students were given a snack and drink and directed to their classroom; each class has about 22 students. Upstairs, teacher Holly Fleury is introduced herself to her class and distributed free backpacks containing school supplies.
They all repeated in unison: “folder,” “notebook,” “pencil,” “paper,” “backpack.”
Fleury went over a brief overview of the class, explaining they will learn new vocabulary, and practice a lot! The class members all said they are familiar with Class Dojo, the communication app used by many of the district’s elementary schools and with the language learning app Duolingo, both of which will be utilized during the course.
Then they got right down to work, starting simple by going around the room and introducing themselves “Hello. My name is . . . .” and then things got a little harder as they each stated “I like to eat . . .”
Soon the initial nerves settled down and the students began to smile and laugh.
Anyone who is interested in receiving information for future classes can contact Family Leadership Institute Director Zoe Dzineku at zdzineku@lowell.k12.ma.us or 978-930-2913 Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. or Wednesday/Thursday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
