Catholic Schools Week Supplement

Striving to succeed: English as a New Language prepares students for a better life

St. Philip Neri School fourth-grader Anthony Calix talks with Providence Sister Therese Whitsett during his English as a New Language class on Jan. 10 at the Indianapolis East Deanery school. School officials said 93 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Last year, the school’s ISTEP test results indicated that students who did not achieve Level Four or Level Five in English proficiency on the Woodcock-Muñoz language scale also did not pass the ISTEP test. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

Jon Alexander and his family moved to Indianapolis from their homeland of Nicaragua a few weeks ago.

In January, his parents enrolled him in the eighth-grade class at St. Philip Neri School, where 93 percent of the 172 students are Hispanic and bilingual.

He couldn’t speak any English on his first day of school, but his new teachers, a student-partner and other classmates are helping him make the transition from a Latino culture to life in America.

Some people would describe Jon as an immigrant, but at St. Philip Neri School he is simply welcomed as a new student—regardless of his birthplace—and taught English as a New Language along with other required classes.

Hispanic Catholics who live on the near-east side of the city are helping increase St. Philip Neri’s enrollment by recommending the East Deanery grade school to new Latino families.

Providence Sister Therese Whitsett teaches English as a New Language (ENL) at the school and provides faculty support in the classrooms. Seven teachers and the school secretary are bilingual. Spanish-speaking interpreters translate for faculty members who need help conversing during parent-teacher conferences.

“We are able to welcome and help Hispanic children feel comfortable in their transition here because we have such a large bilingual staff,” Mary McCoy, campus director, explained. “We are able to communicate with their parents, who are Spanish-speaking. I think that puts them all more at ease and helps make them feel much more comfortable coming into an unfamiliar environment. The children are very respectful. … It’s our goal that they will grow up and succeed in society.”

Sisters of Providence have taught at St. Philip Neri School since it was founded in 1910, and Sister Therese is proud to carry on their tradition by ministering to the language needs of Hispanic students.

“I help where needed,” she said. “Some days I help 15 students and some days I see four students. I work in small groups. I work with the teachers. I help students in the classrooms who are at various levels of learning English.

“The child may be sitting in the classroom smiling at you, and you think he understands what you are talking about,” Sister Therese said. “Then you give him a test and he can’t even read the directions. We have to start with the basics to help them understand the meanings of words and how to use them in context.”

The Woodcock-Muñoz language scale helps teachers determine the level of English skills of new Hispanic students.

“There are five levels of learning English,” Sister Therese explained. “A child who has been here perhaps two or three years may be stuck on Level Three, meaning that he understands what you are talking about, but may struggle to verbalize it and may have difficulty reading English. Another child at Level One is at the picture stage—learning words and phrases through pictures.”

She emphasized that a student’s ability to speak English does not correspond with his or her level of intelligence.

“The children are very intelligent if they are able to only speak English when they are in school and only speak Spanish when they are at home,” Sister Therese said. “They are living in two cultures.”

Last year, she said, a new fourth-grade student from Mexico cried every day for the first six weeks of school and often sat with his head down on his desk. Gradually, ENL class changed his life.

“He had never been to school,” Sister Therese said. “Now you should see him. He is happy. He is talking in English—still at a very basic level—but he’s comfortable, he’s welcomed and he’s achieving in the classroom.”

Hispanic students remain with their peers in the classroom most of the school day, she said, and also receive separate tutoring in English, reading and math.

Father Carlton Beever, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, has completed several language immersion courses in Guadalajara, Mexico, in recent years. He celebrates Mass in Spanish, and is able to converse easily with Spanish-speaking parishioners and students.

Administrative assistant Maria Lomeli is from Mexico, McCoy said, and does an excellent job communicating with parents and students in the school office and on the telephone.

Lomeli also prepares written materials, which are printed in English and Spanish. Because she understands the Latino culture so well, she is able to help other staff members bring religious traditions that are cherished by Hispanic Catholics into the school environment and build community among school families.

Teachers also prepare the Catholic students to receive the sacraments of reconciliation and first Eucharist, McCoy said, which helps Latino parents as well.

Monthly meetings for Spanish-speaking parents help them learn about their children’s life at school, and cover educational topics ranging from how to help with homework to understanding the benefits and dangers of technology.

“We do not have a school bus,” Sister Therese said. “Many of the parents escort their children into the school [in the morning], and they are picked up by their parents or family members. The teachers go out on the playground so it’s a great opportunity to get to know the parents and communicate with them on a daily basis.”

Principal Terri Rodriguez said St. Philip Neri School’s strengths include its diversity of Hispanic, African-American, biracial and white students.

“We test all of our students with the Woodcock-Muñoz language scale,” Rodriguez said. “… We know their level of English proficiency. They may be functioning below their grade level, not because of an academic disability but because of a language problem. Our goal is to get them all up to language Level Five because that is proficiency in conversational English as well as the technical English we use in instruction.

“Our teachers are aware of the children’s language levels, and they use that [information] for the grouping of students within their classrooms,” she said. “Every class is taught in English, and we use the instructional strategies that have been proven to be effective with the English language learner. Our ISTEP (Indiana Standard Testing for Educational Progress) results are on the rise, and we’re very proud of the improvement that we’ve made in the past year.” †