The Denver Public Schools Foundation launched a new fundraising initiative on Thursday, Jan. 18, that targets schools impacted by the new arrivals.
"The DPS foundation will ensure the funds go to the area of the greatest need to support schools, the (district) community hubs, and other wraparound services to ensure our refugees, migrants, and new to the country DPS families have what they need to thrive," said Sara Hazel, president, and CEO of the foundation, which provides support for a number of initiatives involving teachers and students.
Financial and other support can't come soon enough.
More than 2,400 new students mostly from Venezuela have enrolled in DPS schools since the summer. The district said it's still enrolling 100 new students a week and doesn't expect the number to slow. At least 25 schools have 50 or more new students.
Many of the new students arrived after the state's October count date, which determines state funding for students. That means the district has to draw from its own resources. DPS has already allocated more than $1.6 million to 48 schools to help support late arrivals.
Schools and other the district's community hubs, which provide many services to families, can apply directly for grants. Donations to the New Arrivals, Student and Family Fund could be used to hire translators, and bilingual classroom aides, replenish resource rooms at community hubs, purchase books, chairs, and flexible floor seating, prepaid phone cards for families, among many other items.
"We're prioritizing the schools that have had an enrollment of 50 or more (new) students," said Hazel.
What do schools with several hundred new students look like?
McMeen Elementary in southeast Denver has a kindergarten and second-grade class with 35 students each.
"It has meant scrambling to find furniture for classrooms that have historically only had 20 to 25 students," said principal Andria Hinman.
She said the school began seeing an influx of new students from other countries in the fall of 2022. She believes the dual-language program and the availability of housing in the neighborhood, fueled by word of mouth in the migrant community, has contributed to the influx at her school.
Many of the dual-language classrooms have 30 students, and Hinman expects that number will rise to 35 by the end of the year. Hinman said discussions at the school including how to continue to meet the needs of students who've been enrolled at the school for years. In elective classes like art, PE, library, and music, teachers try to translate or they rely on student translators, she said.
"This has been a huge strain on their ability to get to content, especially with new students arriving every week and needing to learn the rituals and routines of how to do school in the United States," she said.
The school has had to extend lunch room and recess duty time for staff to accommodate all the students. She said the enrollment jump has required problem-solving, schedule adjustment, and more wrap-around services. The school has hired a family liaison to help secure food and clothing donations. Hinman said the school is committed to welcoming, educating, and helping meet the basic needs of every student.
"We are really trying to think about how to provide for our students and family basic needs so that they are able to fully engage in the learning."
"A bit of burnout"
Hinman said she's been able to hire more classroom aides from existing school families which has helped, but staff are experiencing a "bit of burnout."
"Right now, though, it's the question of sustainability. What's going to happen next year? We may have these resources now, but what are we going to be dealing with next year? How are we going to maintain these resources? Is the funding going to be there and so and forth? So that's a question on everyone's mind. I think that's really stressing people out in terms of, what's the answer?"
The school would like to hire classroom aides at each grade level, Spanish-speaking mental health support, Spanish Spanish-speaking literacy interventionists, and would like to partner with more community organizations.
The DPS Foundation grants could help with some of that.
Recently, foundation staff toured several impacted schools. Here's a glimpse of what they saw:
- Ashley Elementary in Park Hill expected 197 students this school year. As of two weeks ago, it had 410.
- At Samuels Elementary in southeast Denver, kindergarteners no longer fit on the classroom's large carpet. The school needs more flexible classroom spaces, storage space, and more room around desks. Other schools have had to use their library or auditoriums for interventions or classrooms
- Many schools have had to transfer more traditional classrooms into classrooms that are taught primarily in Spanish to get kids to grade level in content, while also learning English. Teachers have had to shift classrooms and schools are lacking sufficient behavioral and mental health support in Spanish.
The challenges at impacted middle and high schools like George Washington High are more related to attendance and families learning the requirements of the American public school system, said Hazel. Other needs there include warm coats, shoes, and hats. Communicating with families can be a challenge. Many use WhatsApp to communicate but schools don't.
Hazel said educators are working above and beyond to help meet families' needs. Existing families at schools are also stepping up. Those at Denver Green School Southeast have provided backpacks and school supplies to new arrivals.
The district's six community hubs can also apply for new grants
The hubs, located at schools, have been the front line of support for many migrant families with children. They provide a plethora of services such as help finding a job, parenting classes, food and clothing, and English language classes. DPS Hub director Esmeralda De La Oliva said the goal is to build trust to help families eventually become self-sufficient. She gave the example of a migrant family from Colombia who had been in the country for three weeks. The family arrived at a hub for diapers.
Within a couple of months, the mother was enrolled in English and GED classes and the father secured a job in transportation with Denver Public Schools.
To get families to that point, however, the hubs need donations of basic support like food and clothing.
"We can't do this alone," said De La Oliva.
She added that families' top requests are accessing food, clothing, health care support, and job opportunities. Hubs have recently hired additional workforce coordinators to help migrants find jobs. Hubs would like additional funds to expand ESL and GED classes.
In an effort to hire more bilingual classroom aides, the district will host hiring fairs on Jan. 31 and in February and March.
Hazel announced that donations, which can be made here, will be matched by the Denver Foundation and the Rose Community Foundation up to $50,000.
