ELL News Headlines

When migrant families began arriving two years ago, Hudson Guild, a long-time preschool operator on Manhattan’s West Side, became a popular child care choice for those staying in nearby emergency shelters. The operator had plenty of open seats because of prekindergarten enrollment losses during the pandemic, and it ran several publicly funded preschool programs that were free and open to undocumented families. Before long, as many as 70% of the seats in some of Hudson Guild’s programs were occupied by the newcomer students, according to administrators. “It was a great partnership, because we were able to offer safe, nurturing educational classrooms,” said Joanny Ruiz, the director of early childhood services at Hudson Guild. “Parents were really appreciative and open to the work that we were doing.” But that arrangement was upended when a new city rule limiting shelter stays for migrant families to 60 days began to take effect, Ruiz said. As many as 50 of Hudson Guild’s roughly 200 families have dropped out over the past several months, while others are now making long daily commutes and struggling to keep up their attendance, she said.

Following the release of a report that revealed “serious barriers” for Latino students in Denver Public Schools, the district has hired its first director of Latinx Student Success.

After Brown v. Board, white families pulled their kids out of Pasadena, California’s public schools. Decades have passed, and neighborhood parents are still working toward integration.

Only about half of teen mothers earn a high school diploma by age 22, compared to 90 percent of female students who did not have a child as a teenager. There are many factors at play, but the most significant one is that traditional high schools don’t accommodate our needs.

Myths can teach students about different cultures, and retelling the stories in their own words lets them share their cultural heritage.

For many high school seniors and others hoping to attend college next year, the last few months have become a stress-filled struggle to complete the trouble-plagued, much-maligned FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Summer programs already offer less academic instruction than recommended, and the end of COVID-19 aid could impact that further.

The term “restorative practices” is tossed around a lot these days, and this multipart series can help clarify what it looks like on the ground.

When elementary schoolers learn about Dwania Kyles, they’re struck by her bravery. When Kyles was in first grade, she and 12 others became the first Black students to walk into all-white classrooms in Memphis to begin desegregating the city’s school system. Another thing the elementary students marvel at about those pioneers, Kyles says: “They’re still alive!”

Learn more about the life and legacy of civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez and her family, who spearheaded a federal lawsuit which helped end school segregation in California and pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education.