For teens who arrive in the United States and are deficient in high school credits which prevents them from acquiring a diploma to further their education or start a career, the Hemet Unified School District’s Newcomer Academy is there to help.
“Alessandro was chosen for this program because of the flexibility we can provide in scheduling and our ability to provide students with the opportunity to earn credits at an accelerated rate,” said Principal Matthew Centofranchi, who is serving his fourth year as principal there. “The larger high schools provide support for newcomers, but not to the extent that we do.”
HUSD’s Alessandro High School is a continuation high school that serves students who are behind in credits and helps them get on track to graduate. The Newcomer program is designed to serve students aged 16 and up who are credit deficient and new to the United States.
“The program is ‘self-contained’ with two teachers taking on the multiple subject areas that these students need to graduate,” Centofranchi said. “There are also four bilingual aides that work between the two classrooms. We promote English as the common language because the students come to us from several different countries, not just those that are primarily Spanish speaking.”
Teacher Maria Rodriguez oversees language arts and social studies with assistance from Sofia Liang and Aleyda Otanez. Teacher Javier Zamora works with the students on math and the sciences, alongside instructional aides Mariela Persona and Frances Ruiz.
Rodriguez has been teaching for 30 years and said last year was a learning year for her as she had to teach each student at their own level. “Having aides is awesome,” she said. “We’re constantly building our curriculum to meet the needs of our students.”
Ruiz has been an instructional aide for 10 years and joined the Newcomer program this year. Persona has been with the program since it began but has worked as an aide in special education. “I like that I can make connections with the kids and learn more about their cultures and see all the similarities and differences,” Persona said.
Superintendent Christi Barrett said, “At HUSD, we are committed to living up to our vision, which is our promise to students: To design a system that leads to equitable educational outcomes for all students, including and especially those who have been kept furthest from opportunity. We ‘embrace, educate, and empower’ each student for college, career, and life. The Newcomer Academy reflects this vision by ensuring that students who are new to the country are embraced and supported in their transition, educated in ways that meet their unique needs, and empowered to pursue high school graduation and beyond.”
Centofranchi said prior to the program’s launch he had the opportunity to visit other schools that have similar programs. “It opened my eyes, and I realized that we need to be realistic in what we are preparing our students for – to become part of the community and citizens of our country.”
This is the second school year for the program that currently has 16 students enrolled, with four set to graduate this month, having attained the necessary 200 credits. Current students are from Mexico, Haiti, Cambodia and Syria. In the past, students from Guatemala and Venezuela have been served.
Barrett said the decision to create the Newcomer Academy was driven by a growing need to provide wrap-around support for students who have been in the United States for less than 12 months. She said, “Many of these students, especially those in grades 11 and 12, face significant language barriers and may have experienced interruptions in their formal education. The Newcomer Academy is designed to give these students the targeted assistance they need to progress academically and work toward graduation by grade 12. It emphasizes English language acquisition while ensuring that students stay on track to earn their high school diplomas and pursue future opportunities.”
The school, which serves all students who are age 16 and up (juniors and seniors) who are credit deficient, is accustomed to students working at their own pace to complete what is necessary to graduate so having them come and go throughout the school year is something that staff and fellow students are accustomed to at the Alessandro campus. The campus typically gets new students every quarter with more than 30 enrolling this week. “We are used to being flexible,” Centofranchi said.
Like other Alessandro students, Newcomer students can transfer back to their “home” school at any time, which is based on where they reside. Many of the students in the Newcomer program stay at the school until they graduate, but some will transfer back to their original high school once they are on track to graduate.
Barrett explained that students are identified as newcomers through the district’s central registration. Once identified, staff notifies the site and the Multilingual Department that a Newcomer student has entered HUSD.
“The high school site’s counselor works closely with Alessandro’s counseling staff to refer these students to the Newcomer Academy,” she said. “This collaboration ensures that students receive the support they need from the outset of their educational journey. We emphasize that the academy is designed to provide students with the skills and confidence they need to succeed, both academically and socially, with a clear focus on graduating by grade 12.”
Centofranchi said the academic counselors on staff at Alessandro and support staff at the district office analyze foreign transcripts and apply credits as appropriate. “It can be challenging, but we have checks and balances in place to ensure we are issuing credits as accurately as possible,” he said. “The placement here is contingent on their age (16+) and credit status. Any newcomers who arrive in Hemet aged 18 or above may attend Adult School rather than the high school; we offer a Spanish HiSet (like the GED) test for Spanish-speaking newcomers at the Adult School.”
HUSD’s Janice Jones, Director of English Learners, State/Federal Accountability and Nereyda Gonzalez Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services were directly involved in the program coming to Alessandro. Centofranchi said Jones saw a need and made it happen and that the district office continues to offer a “ton of support” for the program.
“We have had multiple students graduate from the Newcomer program and many of the students have branched out and taken additional courses, such as our CTE First Responder pathway; the kids are really motivated,” he said. “We have had graduates from the Newcomer program enroll in college and others with us at Hemet Adult School in ESL classes in order to continue their language development.”
Just as other schools in the district do, Newcomer Academy tracks the daily movement of each student through Pear Deck, a classroom management tool that creates active, collaborative learning environments. A large screen displayed in the classrooms lets teachers and aides know at a glance what a student is working on in real-time so they can provide one-on-one assistance but also check in with other students as needed.
“We have found a happy middle ground, using technology to move things along in the right direction but not using it as a crutch,” Centofranchi said regarding the use of translation services and other online tools available to students.
“The most pronounced challenge was that this program was new to us, as a district and as a school. As a district, we had visited other Newcomer programs but were still tasked with building our Newcomer Academy from the ground up,” he said. “This was extremely challenging for the teachers, who were required to teach multiple subjects in one class period and individualizing learning experiences to meet students’ needs. We have also had to sort out a system that is effective in identifying the students who qualify as they enroll in the district. Although support from the district office has been instrumental, the work of the two teachers, Mrs. Rodriguez and Mr. Zamora, along with the instructional aides, have really made this program successful.”
