ELL News Headlines

Hundreds of students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring walked out of class Thursday to show support for a classmate who they say was recently deported to Guatemala.

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids ramp up across California, so have reports of students grappling with trauma, upheaval and fear after family members — and sometimes students themselves — are detained.

California may soon pass legislation mandating evidence-based reading instruction, after more than a year of tense negotiations between battling advocacy groups.

As I retire after teaching 23 years, the last 22 of them at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif., I’ve been reflecting on what has kept me content at our school and why I feel like I’m leaving on a high point. In other words, what did the school do to help ensure that I’ve been satisfied with my work, never considered leaving teaching or the school until I reached retirement age (and, even then, it was not an easy decision), and would unreservedly recommend it as a great place for educators (and for students and classified staff)?

Here’s how one school hosted meaningful events to create deeper connections with the surrounding community.

Postcrossing. The name evokes a bygone time of galloping hooves and bleating steamships. But the project, which involves the randomized exchange of postcards through a global network, offers an opportunity to step away from digital devices and delve into analog communication. The anachronism and novelty of global postcard exchange seemed like it might attract students at New Utrecht High School, which sits at the crossroads of Italian, Chinese, Guatemalan, Mexican, Ukrainian, African American and Caribbean American communities in Brooklyn, NY.

The school year is ending amid immigrations raids at businesses, protests, and the activation of National Guard troops and Marines.

Students from low-income families and English learners are automatically awarded $500 for college or career training through a California program. Foster youth and homeless students get another $500 on top of that. But students, or their parents or guardians, have to claim the money. And many families are unaware of this program.

In the panicked moments after immigration agents detained Dylan Lopez Contreras in a Manhattan courthouse last month, his mother dialed a familiar number. It was Hedin Bernard, a counselor at her son’s high school, English Language Learner and International Support Preparatory Academy, or ELLIS Prep — a nod to the famous island through which millions of immigrants entered New York City last century. Dylan’s arrest two weeks ago — the first known case of a New York City public school student detained by immigration agents in President Donald Trump’s second term — has galvanized local opposition to federal immigration policy and sparked a fierce debate about the city’s role in protecting immigrant students. His detention also has put a spotlight on the unique brand of public education offered by schools like ELLIS Prep.

I’m retiring from K-12 teaching next week (though will continue to write this blog AND will be a volunteer teacher to the incarcerated). Here are some things I will and won’t miss after 23 years in a high school classroom.