DADE COUNTY, Fla. — We are just weeks away from starting a brand-new school year, but some students in Miami-Dade County have spent the summer learning.
The Miami Dade County Public School District is elevating its international students with a language summer camp made just for them.
“The fact that they are here and they are learning, many of them said they have only been here three to four months, they feel more confident,” shares Yuneisy Morell.
Morell came from Cuba when she was 10. She’s a product of MDCPS’ ESOL program, which teaches English to students who did not learn it as their native tongue.
And now, she teaches at the Summer Newcomer Language Camp, “I was a student that was afraid, especially in middle school, you’re afraid to speak because you don’t know what they are going to say, you don’t want them to make fun of you.”
She furthers, “I think this class is giving them the license to ‘Okay, I can be myself,’ no one is judging me, I can speak, and do it in a fun way.”
Every day, students from countries like Cuba, Colombia, and Nicaragua learn a little about everything; days of the week, classroom etiquette, vocabulary, phonics, reading skills, and American culture.
The difference in this classroom setting is there’s no stress of academic grades.
The parents of students tell Florida 24 Network in Spanish the same, “For us, it’s a joy that he is becoming acclimated because he has to integrate himself. And that he has integrated himself very well, and he’s very happy.”
A district representative says this past school year, more than 20 thousand international students who do not speak English joined our district schools. These five weeks are essential to getting them confident for this upcoming school year.
“We have this beautiful melting pot in this county, so they are going to be able to develop also their social skills, interacting with their peers, and this is going to make them academically stronger for the 2023-2024 school year,” explains District Supervisor for the Bilingual Department, Cecilia Monteagudo.
“I think the program really gives them a leg up, especially when they go back,” explains Morell.
She continues, “They still have a long way to go, but they will be more confident in the sense that when they get back to the classroom, they will ask those questions, they will be more confident in themselves, and advocating for themselves if they need help or if they are not understanding.”
