LYNN — When schools shut down to prevent the spread COVID-19 last March, Lynn parents Israel and Yuri Sanchez-Rijo braced for the worst.
Israel, an auto body shop worker, was let go from his job. Although he was eligible to collect part-time unemployment benefits, Yuri, a basic needs case manager for Catholic Charities, became the family’s primary financial provider, which left her constantly stressed and with little time for anything else.
With work taking up much of his wife’s day, Israel quickly stepped in to mentor the couple’s daughter, 6-year-old Sofia, a kindergartner at Drewicz Elementary, to make sure she completed her remote learning requirements.
“I just started staying right next to my daughter, doing the Zoom classes,” Israel said. “That’s how everything started.”
Originally from the Dominican Republic, Israel initially found it difficult to follow Sofia’s classwork. Because he was unfamiliar with the U.S. school system and was more comfortable speaking Spanish, Israel said communicating with his daughter’s teacher was challenging.
“I’d never been in a school in the United States,” he said. “At first it was kind of weird, but step by step, slowly, I just started learning the process, and with a little bit of patience, we got (it).”
Now the pair are learning side by side.
“The teachers say good morning to my daughter and they say good morning to Issy. He’s part of the class,” Yuri said. “They treat him just like another person in the classroom, like an aide. He loves it.
“He has learned so much about school here. He says ‘I love it because I get to learn about phonics, I’m able to learn what (these) words are. I didn’t know any of that.’”
Sofia’s parents say their daughter isn’t the only one who benefits from her father’s presence in class.
Because Israel is able to communicate in both Spanish and English, parents of other children from Spanish-speaking households now rely on him to translate the teacher’s assignments and help bridge the linguistic gap.
“When (the teacher) says ‘hey parents, come out,’ at the end of the day, some of the parents don’t know what she’s saying, so I have to tell them, ‘OK, the teacher’s trying to say this or that,’” Israel said.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of bilingual students in U.S. schools rose steadily from 3.8 million in 2000 to 5 million in 2016. The percentage of Latino students grew even faster, jumping from 16 percent in 2000 to 26 percent in 2015.
In Lynn alone, 64 percent of students currently identify Spanish as their primary language, according to Amanda Campbell, Assistant Director of English Language Learner (ELL) Education for Lynn Public Schools. Campbell also noted that as of 2021, 77 percent of Lynn’s kindergarten students speak a language other than English at home.
Even in pre-pandemic times, educators and parents were concerned about schools’ abilities to meet the needs of non-English speaking students. Now they worry remote learning is only widening the educational gap between these students and their English-speaking peers.
“For (ELL students), that doesn’t just mean a lower GPA or having to attend a less-selective college. It means potentially not graduating or not advancing to a post-secondary education,” journalist Erin Richards wrote in a May 2020 article for usatoday.com. “It means not mastering a skill critical for upward mobility in America.”
As the daughter of immigrant parents herself, Yuri, who came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at age 4, said she understands the burden placed on English language learners when it comes to the American school system.
“My parents don’t speak English, so I know what it’s like to have to translate everything for your parents,” Yuri said, noting that parents of early elementary school children have the added difficulty of not being able to rely on their young students to explain what’s happening in the classroom.
“When you have a kindergartner who doesn’t know how to read, who doesn’t know how to add, you have to be right next to them,” she said. “(Teachers will say) ‘get your adult,’ but this adult is dealing with an English-speaking teacher who doesn’t know what they’re saying.”
It may not be long before Israel’s services are no longer needed by at least some of his fellow parents, however, with Yuri noting that many families have discovered a silver lining to remote learning.
“I’ve been very proud of the parents in Sofie’s class and her school because they have learned along with the kids, and that’s something where otherwise, they wouldn’t have that experience,” Yuri said. “I had parents who didn’t understand a word (of English) a month ago, and now they’re on the phone without needing help.”
After remote learning alongside his daughter, Israel was able to achieve his citizenship last December with The New American Association of Massachusetts in Lynn and now works as a paid Citizenship Tutor with the organization.
At the center of it all is Sofia, who said she’s enjoyed the time she’s been able to spend with her father.
“We just have fun together,” Sofia said, although she added she looks forward to eventually meeting her teacher and classmates in person. “I’ll be happy (to go back to school) because there’s going to be playgrounds there.”
Her father might find the change more difficult.
“It’s going to be sad, but at the same time I am going to feel happy for her because she’s going to go to class in person and meet kids, friends, classmates, her teacher,” Israel said. “She’s going to be happier because she’s going to be around kids just like her.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at ecarmosino@itemlive.com.
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