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Violence and uncertainty around the world have brought a surge of people to America. Colorado is a state where migrants can become refugees. They get food and shelter. We have a few students in Englewood High School who are here because their families need a safe place to call home. We want to tell their story of how their lives have changed since moving to Englewood.

Migration is moving to a new country or region to live or stay there. It involves the movement of people from their home country to a host country, of which they are not native, to settle and live.

Freshman Devin Hendricks knows how hard it can be to start over in a different place, ”Sometimes you have to leave because of a position you might be in. There might be rules they must go by that don’t benefit them.” Change has a lot of an impact on students, where they decide to stay, and the different areas that they are moved into. For reference, Freshmen Julian Azua has family in Mexico, “Having a new life is something better and it can be easy to be successful in whatever situations come your way.”

Migrants to Englewood say they can face difficulty making ends meet, being overqualified for their jobs, uninsured, and uncertain about immigration laws and policies that may affect their families. Some students say, that migrants feel judged. Migrant student’s schoolwork and experience in the classroom often suffer if they don’t get the support they need. According to recent research by EdSource, 60% of teachers and school staff report poor academic performance, and nearly half note an increased rate of bullying against these students.

Here at Englewood Schools, there are dozens of resources for these families, and many high school students who are new to the school report feeling a sense of community at Englewood High School.

Englewood has a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education program serving over 300 multilingual learners in the district. The district website says there are about 25 home languages represented in the student population within our schools. The district also offers multilingual family nights throughout the year.

Brianna Montoya is the ELD Coordinator at Englewood High School, “So based off of their initial test scores, we’re helping them improve their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. So a lot of the skills we do are basic English grammar, and conversational skills, like real-world situations. Right now we’re practicing ordering at a restaurant. So just to get them more practice and more comfortable.”

She works one-on-one with students who have very different needs, “Each kid is so different. So each has different needs and different levels. I’m really lucky that I have a smaller class that I’m able to do that.”

Each student needs individualized attention. She believes that new students benefit from the staff that is attentive and invested in their success, “It’s helpful that we have a large student body that’s already bilingual. The students that come without knowing any English, have kind of like an anchor for students to help them translate.