Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

At Jydstrup Elementary, students speak 37 languages — and learn a lesson in diversity

Jydstrup Elementary School

Steve Marcus

Kindergarten student Eliana Fessha and a classmate take turns shaking hands and introducing themselves at Jydstrup Elementary School Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. The diverse student population at Jydstrup spans 37 different first-languages.

Jydstrup Elementary School

Preschooler Catalina De Soto, 4, waits with her sister Francesca, 6, at Jydstrup Elementary School Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. The diverse student population at Jydstrup spans 37 different first-languages. Launch slideshow »

Top 10 languages spoken in the homes of Clark County students

A total of 79,866 CCSD students speak a language other than English at home. These are the most common:

Spanish: 72,677

Tagalog: 2,604

Filipino: 948

Vietnamese: 741

Cantonese: 601

Amharic: 528

Chinese (Zhongwen): 491

Chinese (Mandarin): 468

Korean: 445

Arabic: 363

The children gather on a rug in Mrs. O’Brien’s kindergarten classroom, ready for the morning routine.

“All right, can you show me sitting down crisscross applesauce style?” Kara O’Brien asks in a sing-songy voice.

She plays a medley of songs for 5- and 6-year-olds.

“Give them your right hand/Look them in the eye/Put a smile on your face/Then you say, ‘Hi!’”

The kids giggle and act out the words, shaking each other’s hand. Next comes a disco-tuned ABC song, then a song encouraging them to wiggle and shake.

Every song has a purpose. O’Brien and other Jydstrup Elementary School teachers have kids in their classrooms from Ethiopia to Ukraine to Brazil, each with a varying grasp on the English language. This is more than just a morning routine — it’s a way to help the students learn English and respect students from different cultures.

Such diversity isn’t unusual in a school where 37 languages are spoken and in a district with more than 85,000 students who speak 83 languages other than English. About 85 percent of the non-English speaking students speak Spanish, but also Urdu, Bulgarian, Turkish, Thai and Hindi.

“The impact of learning about other people is so (important) at kindergarten,” said O’Brien, a teacher for 14 years. “You teach kids to look on the inside rather than their appearances.”

It’s not unusual to see children speaking Oromo or Hindi to their parents before being dropped off in the morning. But once they walk through the school’s door, they speak English.

•••

Inside Jydstrup’s cafeteria, the word “Welcome” is written in more than 20 languages on long rolls of paper. Principal David Frydman started the display to embrace diversity at his school.

The Clark County School District can’t afford to hire interpreters to transition foreign-language students into the classroom, so it’s up to the teachers, most of whom are trained in teaching English. A total of 2,000 are certified to teach English to non-English speakers, said Tracy Clark, director of the English Language Learning program.

The program recommends teachers use images, actions and definitions to cut across language barriers. That might mean defining what “fairy tale” means before reading a story, or acting out “press” by pushing hands together.

Some students arrive understanding some English, but many understand no more than “yes” and “no.” Every child is taught in the same classroom regardless of his or her knowledge of the English language, per district policy.

The goal is to immerse them in the language so they learn it more quickly.

“We know the kids that come to us with no understanding of the English language are going to be at a disadvantage for a little while,” Clark said. “But by exposing them to grade-level curriculum, we’re giving them a chance of seeing where they should be.”

She has seen elementary school students pick up the English language and start making friends in days.

Still, there’s an adjustment. Students often fall behind on standardized tests because they’re still grasping English. Only about 48 percent of Jydstrup’s third-graders were proficient in math and 37 percent in reading, compared to nearly 70 percent statewide.

It takes an average seven to 10 years for an ELL student to pass the English Language Proficiency Assessment, Clark said. The goal is to have every student able to communicate in English by the time they graduate.

“We used to take kids and say you don’t need to learn English or all the English you need to learn is basic language,” Clark said. “We moved on from survival to insisting they learn the language.”

•••

In fifth-grade teacher Neil Haner’s room, students get ready to write a paragraph about what they hope to accomplish this school year.

“Should we start every sentence with ‘it’?” Haner asks.

“No,” the students respond.

“Right, because we don’t want to put the parents to sleep,” Haner says, acting out sleep. “If you do that, you get an ‘F.’”

The classroom’s walls are filled with symbols next to words. A bookshelf is equipped with both a picture dictionary and a “My First Dictionary.” This year, Haner has students with Bosnian, Serbian and Ethiopian backgrounds.

“The best thing I love about this school is how diverse it is,” Haner said. “The challenge with the diverse languages is helping those kids still learning English. ... It’s a lot of going back and figuring out where they’re at. A lot come knowing some English, but they have holes.”

Haner uses gestures, such as mimicking sleep, when he speaks. He pairs students who speak the same language so they can help each other.

Still, it can be difficult when children speak no English at all. For those students, Haner caters lessons to their abilities. Rather than have them write essays, they draw and write one sentence.

A Chinese girl Haner worked with, giving extra one-on-one help during class, was able to read at a second-grade level by the end of the year and was fluent by high school graduation.

Teachers also invite students and parents to talk about their culture.

Mohamoud Nor has seen the impact the school’s diversity has had on his children, who are in kindergarten and first grade. Their primary language is Somalian, but they can say hello in Ormo and Spanish, and speak English at home.

“People can come together and learn different cultures; they learn that they have differences,” Nor said. “I’m glad we’re here.”

•••

Back in O’Brien’s classroom, students line up for a class picture but wait to take the photo. They’re missing a classmate.

“We can’t take the photo without our family,” O’Brien says.

The boy settles in, and the children burst into smiles. “CHEESE!” they shout.

Then they line up for recess: tag, the jungle gym, slides. They giggle and run.

On the playground, their native tongue doesn’t matter; they all understand laughter.

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