Bilingual Green Valley parents reach out to non-English speakers

The Language Partners program matches bilingual families with foreign-language speaking families, easing their way into the school system. The program encourages bilingual parents to reach out, and stay in touch with and become a resource for families who may not speak English, informing them about teacher conferences, newsletters or class parties.

Principal Kevin Cuppett started the program last year. The school contacted bilingual families in the community and found six to volunteer to work with parents who speak limited English. The school then organized an Adventure Park visit, where the first family pair had a chance to meet, talk and start a relationship they hope to maintain throughout the school year.

The school now hopes to build up the program and have a match for every limited English speaking family in its community.

‘‘This is a program that we are still trying to figure out,” Cuppett said. ‘‘It is at its initial stages. It’s a program that you kind of have to build a little bit at a time.”

The goal is to break the language barrier, integrate limited English speakers into the school community, and help parents stay involved in their children’s education, he said.

‘‘It’s a social program,” he said. ‘‘We just ask them to extend an invitation.”

The program is unique for Frederick County Public Schools. Countywide programs such as Even Start provide free English language classes for parents, but do not take advantage of parent volunteers.

In its goals, Language Partners is similar to support groups for parents with limited English skills at schools like Lincoln Elementary or Thomas Johnson High. Those groups try to integrate limited English speakers into the school community. They are typically run by bilingual staff members and meet one or two times a month.

Cuppett, who started the Language Partners program last year, was involved in the support group for Spanish-speakers when he was an assistant principal at Lincoln. When he became a principal at Green Valley, he realized that the school has a high number of bilingual families, speaking not only Spanish, but also less common languages like Turkish.

Creating Language Partners was a perfect way to use that resource, Cuppett said. Based in a more rural area in Monrovia, Green Valley Elementary has a lower percentage of new immigrant families with limited English skills than most urban schools. But for Cuppett, it was important to reach out to the family of every student.

‘‘Sometimes we associate a program with a certain type of school,” he said. ‘‘But all of our schools probably have a population of English Language Learners. I think we need to take steps to connect with every one of these families.”

One of the benefits of the program is that it requires minimal funding from the school, allowing it to use resources that already exist in the school system. The program can also act as an entry point into the school system for families who are not proficient in English or familiar with the way schools in the United States work.

At Green Valley Elementary, staff uses the countywide language line to talk to parents who don’t speak English. The school also direct parents to ‘‘Sailing through the System” – a family involvement program, introducing new families to Frederick County Public Schools.

‘‘It is not designed specifically for English Language Learners or immigrants,” said Larry Steinley, the school system’s supervisor for English Language Learning. ‘‘It is designed to enhance the relationship between families and schools.”

When Language Partners is fully developed, Green Valley Elementary staff will administer a mid-year survey in both Spanish and English to find out if participating parents feel the program has been useful for families.

One of the bilingual parents in the program, Victor Pellicier, said he hopes so. Pellicier said the program may take a while to grow because it takes time for families to gain each other’s trust. People who have come from other countries into the United States may feel that if they seek help they are intruding. ‘‘They need somebody to break the ice,” he said.