Bilingual Orientation Centers Slated for Closure This Fall

Seattle Public Schools is quietly eliminating specialized programs for newcomer students - recent immigrants with limited English skills who need intensive support. Teachers at Dunlap Elementary brought this story to our attention because they've been sitting in empty classrooms for four years while newcomer students struggle in overcrowded mainstream classrooms.

We speak with Tricia DeVille, a newcomer teacher with over 20 years of experience, and Nhi Nguyen, who was DeVille's student in the program back in 2008 and is now a kindergarten teacher at Dunlap herself. We explore how these programs used to work, why a 2008 audit recommended strengthening them, and what's being lost as the district chooses to scatter specialized teachers across multiple schools instead of maintaining dedicated newcomer classrooms.

This is accountability reporting on a policy decision that's affecting real kids, but happening largely out of public view.

See our Show Notes

-- Christie Robertson & Cherylynne Crowther

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Rainy Day Recess music by Lester Mayo, logo by Cheryl Jenrow.