Plans are on track for a West Fargo School District "Newcomer Center" to help immigrant children get up to speed quickly on basic English, math, school rules and American culture, the School Board learned Monday.
The board was given a list of needs in terms of space, personnel, texts and technology - as well as budget targets for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years - but was not asked to approve the program yet.
A site for the program has not been determined, district officials said.
The cost for the first year of the program - including three elementary teachers, a part-time social worker and a paraprofessional, along with texts and technology - is estimated at $273,640, Assistant Superintendent Louise Dardis said.
Six to seven rooms will be needed for three classes, a day care, a library and one-on-one teaching center, an English Language Learners room, and an admissions and social worker's office.
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Second-year costs include a teacher, materials and technology for high school students. Total costs for year two are estimated at $279,220. A room also will be needed at the high school, Dardis said.
West Fargo and Fargo School District officials have worked on developing a joint curriculum for the program, but are unlikely to share a center, Dardis said.
She said each district wants their refugee and English Language Learners populations to become part of their community, and the districts have decided each has enough potential participants to support independent programs.
The program will target children who test at Level I language skills, meaning they have little or no English language and literacy skills, low native language skills, have been in the U.S. less than a year and have had limited or frequently interrupted schooling, ELL Coordinator Kerri Whipple said.
Each class will have eight to 10 children. First and second grade will be in one class, third grade through fifth in another, and sixth through eighth in a third. Year two of the program will have class for ninth grade through 12th grade.
In other business, the board voted 6-0 to approve several changes to the middle and high school curriculums, including adding a third year of required math for students graduating in 2011.
Diesel Wallace said the added year of math will give students more chances to be successful in that subject and more options for post-secondary schooling. The move is also in line with suggestions by the state's P-16 Education Task Force, she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583
