School district working to help migrant families in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — As several area students return to school today, Springfield City Schools have new programs to serve its community.

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As reported Wednesday on News Center 7′s Daybreak, elementary, middle, and ninth-grade students returned to the classroom.

Also as previously reported, Springfield has seen a large increase in migrants.

News Center 7′s Xavier Hershovitz reports the district had 250 non-English speaking students in 2017.

The number has increased now to 1,600 students.

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The school district says there are 18 English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. They have also hired bilingual assistants to help translate documents and communications with parents.

“Everything that we’re doing now, we are having to make sure that we look at it through that lens of, how can we also serve not only our English-speaking students but our non-English students and families,” said Dr. Pam Shay, Springfield City School District Director of Federal Programs.

The district says they see students who speak Haitian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

They have also added signs in different languages to help overcome the language barrier.

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