The Roanoker July/August 2023 - 88

By the Numbers
26 schools
roanoke city
13,500 total students
1,756 (13%) el students
roanoke county
29 schools
13,376 total students
515 (4%) el students
salem
6 schools
3,800 total students
163 (4%) el students
W
hen Erica Gonzalez arrived as a
16-year-old Honduran immigrant
at William Fleming High
School 15 years ago, she couldn't
speak English. " It was hard, " she
says in a massive understatement.
But she persevered. Today, she teaches
English as an assistant to new Americans at
Preston Park Elementary School and is president
of the school's PTA.
Roanoke Valley schools teach an impressive
number of kids who speak a wide range
of foreign languages in three different school
districts: Roanoke City, Roanoke County and
Salem. The curricula, which are essentially the
same, even have different names: EL (English
Learner), ELL (English Language Learning),
ESL (English as a Second Language). For simplicity,
we will use EL.
Gonzalez says young students pick up
enough English to communicate " in about
four months. " Her first year at Fleming, communication
was difficult and frustrating, but
she finally caught on, discovering that " you find
the most amazing ways to communicate. "
The children help each other, she discovered,
but it " is traumatic having to learn " a new language.
" It was learning, not just teaching, and
I learned to love [Americans], to understand
them. ... You see these nine- and 10-year-olds
who have already gone through so much, and
you want them to feel safe. "
88 JULY/AUGUST 2023
Gonzalez' own children (who are 13 and
10) speak both English and Spanish at home.
" EL programs benefit the Hispanic community
greatly, " says Noelle Lane, a veteran EL
teacher at Preston Park Elementary. " However,
I see that if you live and work in certain areas
you definitely can go without learning English
for a very long time. This is a big reason we
have students who start school who may have
been born in Roanoke, but Spanish is their first
language. "
Eric Fisher, principal of Preston Park School
for the past 14 years (24 years with the school
system) has the largest percentage of EL students
of any school in the city, which has a total
of 1,756 EL students in all grades. Preston Park
is at 40% (the overall city is 13%), 220 of 520,
most of whom began in the school knowing no
English at all. But, says Fisher, " Most progress
quickly ... They tend to be high-performance
students and they want to please. Students tell
me, 'I want to make my family proud.' "
" Preston is unique in the sense that the
Hispanic community has a very strong presence
all along Williamson Road, in the churches,
the stores, the restaurants and the neighborhoods, "
says Lane. " This sense of community
is reflected in the day-to-day activities of our
families and our staff's appreciation for our
students' culture and stories. "
Pam Anderson has taught for 36 years and
worked with EL students since 2000. These
days she has 44 students at Cave Spring
Elementary school and Clearbrook Elementary.
She's been around long enough to know: " It
is hard for [parents] to imagine not having
the opportunity to successfully communicate
with their children's school, their teachers, and
the enjoyment of fully participating in school
events without language barriers. Parents of
English Language learners face all of these
challenges and more. It is crucial that schools
are aware of these challenges and create a welcoming
environment. "
Fisher says, " We work closely with the
families of students and they can see that the
schools and the [local] government are here
to help. " The kids, he says, " are accepting.
Learning a new language is more challenging
for adults, but the kids are breaking the barriers.
The schools and teachers in the Valley,
Fisher says, " work to get services " for families
" and to help them understand those services.
But we are not here to be the government.
We're here to help. " Many families, Fisher says,
" have endured great obstacles and tragedies. "
" The teachers and administration really love
their EL students, " Lane says. " 'Love' is one of
those words that can sound so light and fun,
but I don't mean it like that. Sometimes there
are new students who transition without any
problems whatsoever, but other times there are
students and families who need more time to
TheRoanoker.com
COURTESY OF ROANOKE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS / DAN SMITH
http://www.TheRoanoker.com
The Roanoker July/August 2023

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