North East ISD Provides Opportunity for Refugee Students
North East ISD helps refugee students adjust to U.S schools with Newcomer Program.
Stepan Dobrianskyi is one of many foreign exchange students from Ukraine attending a North East ISD school. Dobrianskyi is a senior at Churchill High School and is also a part of NEISD’s Newcomer Program for refugees or asylees. This program helps students adjust to U.S schools by providing safe learning environments and support with linguistic, cognitive and academic needs.
Dobrianskyi came to Churchill from Ukraine before the current conflict with Russia began. Halfway through his junior year his world came to a halt when he became aware of the state of his homeland. His family is mostly safe now but he struggles with the guilt of being in the U.S while his home country is struggling. He misses his friends and parents, but he likes the Churchill spirit. He appreciates the support from his history teacher, Mr. Ghrist, and his English teacher, Miss Brand. Miss Brand asked him to write an article about Ukraine, which helped to bring awareness about his country and its current state.
NEISD serves hundreds of newcomers from all over the world including Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo, and Vietnam. The district provides teachers who are certified in English as a Second Language (ESL) to help students learn the language while also learning academics. The end goal is to transition them into a general ESL classroom. The district provides counselors and family specialists.
NEISD believes we can learn from families that come from different countries. North East ISD strives to provide the opportunities to help kids that want quality education.
Blog Post by: Lauren Castelo, GoPublic Intern, Marketing Major, UTSA Class of 2023
