Читать книгу Immigration Stories from Upstate New York High Schools - Группа авторов - Страница 15

For this book we partnered with two high schools in Buffalo: Lafayette Newcomer Academy and Lafayette International Community High School and two schools in Rochester: Brighton Twelve Corners Middle School and Rochester Central School’s Bilingual Language and Literacy Academy. The schools shared similar characteristics: all have a high percentage of immigrant students, and as a group, they reflect broader immigration trends in Upstate New York. This approach allows for the reader to gain an understanding of immigrant stories within a state and beyond just those of one city.

As of 2020, Brighton Twelve Corners Middle School in Rochester had nearly 937 students, three percent were English Language Learners and many had successfully reached proficiency during their K–12 school period. While this may seem like a small number compared to the other schools featured in this book, it should be noted that over a ten-year period of time, the English Learner (EL) population in the Brighton Central School District has more than doubled. Brighton is also unique in its diversity. In 2020, their ELs represent over thirty countries around the world and speak forty-three different languages.

Bilingual Language and Literacy Academy (BLLA), a Spanish-speaking Newcomer Academy in the Rochester City School District had 120 students in 2019 and 100% of those students were ELs. The majority of students attending BLLA had been displaced from Hurricane Maria: “Nearly 2,300 students displaced from Puerto Rico have entered New York schools since the fall, with 559 of them in Rochester—the most of any district in the state, according to records obtained from the State Education Department.”¹⁹ The BLLA was also home to students from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, and Cuba.

In 2019, the Lafayette Newcomer Academy in Buffalo had 260 students—49% of whom were African, 32% of whom were Asian or Pacific Islander, 16% of whom were White/Middle Eastern and 3% of whom were Hispanic/Latino. All one-hundred percent of students were ELs. Lafayette International Community High School—housed in the same building—had 287 students in 2019: 28% of whom were African, 27% of whom were White/Middle Eastern, 43% of whom were Hispanic/Latino, 21% of whom were Asian or Pacific Islander. Here again, 100% of the students were ELs. The most common languages spoken among students across both schools are Spanish, Arabic, Karen, Burmese, Somali, Nepali, Bengali, and Swahili.

The authors in the Upstate New York book represent such a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. Our authors include new arrivals and graduating seniors, refugees and green card holders. Several were even born in the US but were raised in the countries from which their parents migrated. There are emerging scientists, doctors, business owners, elected officials, and community leaders contained in these pages. And these powerful individuals will shape the Rochester and Buffalo landscapes as well as Upstate New York for the foreseeable future. These young people are wise beyond their years, and their communities will greatly benefit from their shared experiences, talents and insights. There’s enough data to show immigrants bring new perspectives, contribute to the economy and encourage all Americans to think in different ways, from research to commerce.²⁰