ST. LOUIS — About 250 ninth and 10th graders from 16 different countries moved into their new school this week after an influx of refugee and immigrant students came to St. Louis Public Schools.
The Nahed Chapman New American Academy has gained nearly 100 students since August, outgrowing its shared space at Roosevelt High School. The program reopened for the spring semester in the former Stevens Middle School in north St. Louis, which had previously been used by SLPS for professional development.
The largest number of students come from Afghanistan, but also Chile, the Congo, Honduras, Guatemala and Rwanda. Spanish is the most common primary language. Some of the students are illiterate in their native language or have never attended school. Others were raped or forced to fight in wars before fleeing their countries.
Kelly Moore, the school’s director, said she was initially concerned about more upheaval with the move, but the students have adjusted well.
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“They love coming to school. This is a safe place for them,†she said.
Student Mohammad Alahmad, 16, from Syria, demonstrates an exercise to classmates Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in the Vandeventer neighborhood in St. Louis.
The students got right to work in their new building, where they take all the typical high school courses along with intensive English training.
“Everyone at the school I know. They are all my friends,†said Mohammad Alahmad, a 16-year-old who came to St. Louis two years ago from Syria.
Both St. Louis city and SLPS are again looking to immigrants to help reverse decades of population decline, following the success of a wave of Bosnian immigrants in the 1990s.
The civic booster Greater St. Louis Inc. has supported more than 1,300 Afghan refugees arriving in the city since 2021. And St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones last year created the Office of New Americans to aid immigrants.
In SLPS, immigrants have helped to stabilize enrollment at 16,542 students this year following a 14% drop since 2020.
Student Dindar Habash, from Syria, colors a pair of shoes during art class Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in the Vandeventer neighborhood in St. Louis. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com
During art class Wednesday at the new building, students learned about the economics of the global footwear industry and designing their own shoes.
Art teacher Seth Blevans, in his seventh year at the school, said he is astounded by “the amount of courage it takes to be in a country and not be able to communicate your basic needs.â€
Many of the students at Nahed Chapman support their families with outside jobs on top of school. They also serve as English teachers and translators for their families. Yet they are more grateful and motivated to learn than the typical teenager, Blevans said.
“The determination is amazing,†he said. “We are a country of immigrants, so why aren’t we giving our very best to our future Americans?â€
The program is named for Nahed Chapman, a former director of bilingual programs in SLPS who died in 2013. Chapman, herself an immigrant from Egypt, founded what was then called the International Welcome School in 2008 to help refugee children overcome language barriers and culture shock.
The school is the only standalone school for immigrants in the region, but other districts are also seeing a rise in foreign-born students.
Art teacher Seth Blevans, right, helps student Diego Galarce, left, from Chile, with his artwork Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in the Vandeventer neighborhood in St. Louis.
Ritenour School District in north St. Louis County hired three additional teachers for English learners this year. The district’s International Welcome Center inside Hoech Middle School helps newcomers with accelerated English support and family resources. Students take classes in the center for one to four semesters before transitioning to one of the district’s schools.
Last year, the Bayless School District in south St. Louis County opened its English Language Development Welcome Center led by director Monika Hasanbasic for its growing immigrant and refugee population.
English is a second language for nearly half of the 1,770 students in Bayless. The district was awarded a $119,000 grant in 2021 from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to help families arriving from Afghanistan.
Hasanbasic, who fled Bosnia as a child, said her role is to help families understand the expectations of school along with the technology and resources available to them, including counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder.
“We want to make sure that everything gets communicated with a family so they’re set up for success,†she said. “From what I’ve seen, the kids are doing really well. They don’t feel like an outsider, they feel like they belong.â€
Denise Iradukunda, 18, from Rwanda, left, and Bayron Martinez, 18, from Honduras, right, fill out a worksheet in science class as a wall of English words hang behind them Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in the Vandeventer neighborhood in St. Louis. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com
Students eat lunch Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in the Vandeventer neighborhood in St. Louis. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com
