ATLANTIC CITY – During the first weeks of school, labels identify objects in the third-grade classroom at Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School in Atlantic City. On any given day, at lunchtime, a whiff of exotic foods mingles with the smell of cheese and bologna sandwiches. And each month of the school year, school liturgies and prayer services celebrate a diverse sampling of Catholic feast days.
The nearly 250 students who attend pre-K through 8th grade at Our Lady Star of the Sea represent nearly 50 countries. As the school year begins, there could be dozens of students with different cultural backgrounds, customs – and languages.
As the world celebrates International Literacy Month, this small Catholic school in the Camden Diocese sets out to welcome each student, show them God’s love, and help them learn to live, read and play in their new English-speaking world.
“The children adapt very quickly,” said Mercy Sister Mary Shamus, principal, who has seen the school that was established to educate children of an Irish Catholic parish transform into one with an international population that is as transient as it is diverse.
Sister Shamus explained that some of the families who come to Atlantic City for employment enroll their children in the school. After a few years of hard work and saving, many of these parents find other jobs or careers outside of the city, moving their families when they do. Sometimes seasonal workers, like casino entertainment crews, enroll their children during the period of months that they are in the region with that job. But many stay and become members of the community.
By the time their children reach the upper grades, many parents have also adapted, Sister Shamus said. They are more conversant in English, and more comfortable with their roles in the parish and community. They are less shy at PTA meetings and school events.
But in the beginning of each year, it can be a bit frustrating, Sister Shamus confessed.
With so many languages and so many dialects, it is hard to send a communication out to all families. At the beginning of last year, the school enrollment included 69 children of Asian descent; 64 children of Hispanic descent; 63 black children from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other places; and a minority of whites from the Slavic countries and other European regions.
School communications are in English; reports cards are in English.
“Parents are very cooperative; most cooperative,” said Sister Shamus. They turn to neighbors and colleagues who speak their language for translations and help in communicating with the school office or the teachers. Many can rely on their older children for help.
Third-grade teacher Theresa Mazzoni said that it usually takes two years for non-English speaking students to start speaking English. “The first year, they absorb everything,” she said, adding that the children start learning about their new environment with the labels she uses in the classroom.
“There are usually one or two in the class who can communicate in their own language,” said Mazzoni. “The children take care of each other.”
But language is not the only challenge, said Mazzoni. There are cultural differences. Mazzoni said that she has some memorable moments, like when an older student child learned to tie shoelaces after growing up wearing only sandals; or when a student became so excited the first time his mother made him a sandwich for lunch instead of the native foods he had been bringing.
Sister Debbie Vignuolo, who teaches first grade, said that when students come to her class, many are reading already, and have been practicing their Kindergarten word lists all summer.
Math concepts seem easier to grasp, but first grade phonics lessons are sometimes challenging, especially to those children who don’t have vowels in their own language and have trouble distinguishing long and short vowel sounds, said Sister Debbie.
“We use picture books, repeating word families, and rhyming songs. But sometimes rhymes are difficult because some students can’t hear those sounds. But we keep reviewing and the children help each other.”
To master the names and the sometimes difficult pronunciations of her students, Sister Debbie tapes name tags on the desks and asks the children to repeat their names frequently until she learns them.
With resources from the public school system, students at Our Lady Star of the Sea can get help from Title One teachers and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers.
“Our school has a wonderful support system,” said eighth grade teacher Sister Christine Triggs.
Sister Christine said that she meets regularly with the Title One and ESL teachers so that they can incorporate class material into the reading and language lessons for those who need the extra help.
Sister Christine said that she depends on those teachers to help her with parent communications, too.
During parent-teacher meetings, the ESL teacher, an older student, or even the pastor, Father Joseph Luong T. Pham, (who is Vietnamese) are called on to interpret. Sometimes one of the parents speak English, or the parents have gotten help from colleagues or neighbors to help understand a note from the teacher or a report card so that they can work with the teachers to address the issues.
“That’s one of the gifts these diverse parents give,” said Sister Shamus. “They are so industrious -and the kids want to learn. Even though they can’t speak English, they set the goals high – and we don’t water down the lessons for them.”
Even so, there are some challenges and frustrations. Kindergarten teacher Mary Alice McCloskey said that the variations with the school’s summer-winter uniforms cause some confusion. But she’s found that she can rely on older siblings or other students of the same background to help those who are confused.
It’s the first day jitters that McCloskey was worrying about this week. There’s typically a lot of apprehension the first time a parent puts a child into the hands of a teacher, she said. With a language barrier, it’s even more important to relieve the parents’ anxieties. Fortunately, many of them have attended the school’s pre-K program.
But for the new students, especially those who don’t speak English, McCloskey and her classroom aide work even harder to nurture and welcome them.
That happens in the classroom – and in the church. There are several non-Catholic and non-Christian students in the school, but the parents of those students understand the religious foundation of the school.
The school tries to learn about any dietary restrictions or other religious customs that can help those students feel welcome and accepted. The cultural richness of the school is evident during the celebration of Catholic feast days that are also part of an ethnic tradition.
“As the students get older, they learn about each other,” said McCloskey. That begins even at the earliest levels, she said. The children learn to appreciate the way the church is decorated, or that the music is different, or why the saints are being remembered in this special way.
McCloskey said that this helps such a diverse group become a family. “It all melts together. It gives the kids who go here a sense of belonging; a sense of oneness. We all fit together so nicely,” she said.
Sister Shamus said that the diversification is a blessing. “To come to school and see that everybody is one; to learn the customs; to see that all of these nationalities are getting along….”
Sister Shamus talked about the harsh realities of Atlantic City, with the gangs and turf wars and other problems. “But that’s not here, not during the school year,” she said.
Like with all children, there are some scuffles in the playground now and then, “but it’s not because they are different,” Sister Shamus said. “They don’t see the other student’s color of skin. And we who work here all these years, we do
n’t see it either.”
When the families graduate, or move on, as so many of them do, Sister Shamus hopes they take some things with them. “I hope they take with them all of the good things that they learned here,” she said. “That there is no difference; that it doesn’t matter what language you speak or what color your skin is. It’s what’s inside. It’s learning that a person can become the person they were meant to become.”