The Hernando De Soto Elementary School on the border of Chinatown and Little Italy is known for its large immigrant population. It has embraced its multiculturalism and diversity, with many of its students coming from low-income households where English isn’t spoken at home. Still, nothing could have prepared it for the news that it received from the New York City Public Schools last December 2023: get ready for a large arrival of new migrant students.
“We didn’t know what to expect in terms of how many students or what grades,” said Jennifer Samphaoron, an Assistant Principal at the Hernando De Soto school, more widely known as P.S. 130. But after the holiday break, the school with a population of about 700 “increased by almost 10 percent nearly overnight.”
And just like that, Ms. Samphaoron, along with the school’s Principal Renny Fong and Assistant Principal Beena Thomas, ushered in a new set of responsibilities and challenges. At first, a few families from a local hotel-turned-emergency-shelter a few blocks away, started trickling in to register their kids. But by the end of the week, the main office on the second floor was buzzing with a flurry of activity.
“Our main hallway benches were full with families waiting to register for school,” recalled Ms. Samphaoron, who would run down to the cafeteria and return with trays of food to feed the hungry newcomers. “We wanted them to know that their children would be safe with us and that we would do everything we could for them.” Meanwhile, the school’s Parents’ Association helped to gather donated shirts, hoodies, and other school uniforms in order to ensure that the new students felt welcome and like they belonged.
Since last year, more than 100,000 new migrants, mainly from Central and South America, have arrived in the city seeking asylum and shelter, marking one of the largest waves of immigration to the Big Apple and other major American cities in recent decades. Many arrived undocumented and without places to stay or even friends or relatives to help them.
In New York City alone, nearly 70 percent of the newly arrived immigrants placed in the city’s care were families, forcing the city to prioritize children, unemployed adults, and vulnerable senior citizens. For New York’s public schools, this meant taking in 30,000 new students – many of whom didn’t speak English.
P.S. 130, one of many New York public schools to welcome migrant children, only had four Spanish-speaking staff members on hand, and it was often emotional and traumatic for them to hear the harrowing tales of their young students’ arrival into this country.
“Students have opened up to their teachers, with many recounting stories of coming through the Darien Gap,” said Ms. Samphaoron, referring to the dangerous 60-mile migration route between Columbia and Panama. “Some have witnessed assaults, betrayal, extortion, and much more.”
Today, the school, which has a population of nearly 90 percent East-Asian students, teaches dozens of migrant students, a considerably large amount compared to other elementary schools throughout the city. Still, its story is far from unique. Schools throughout the five boroughs have increased class sizes, expanded English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, and even hired more teachers and faculty.
For New York’s public schools, accommodating students from different backgrounds, nationalities, and languages is nothing new, as it boasts one of the most diverse student populations in the country. However, with more migrant students, the city’s already strained school system must continually adapt. Schools like P.S. 130 have had to improvise and make do with limited staff and resources.
“We have all become experts at Google translate,” Ms. Samphaoron said. “We try our best to offer lots of TLC, attention, smiles, high fives — just affirming that kids are welcome at school, we are happy to see them, and we are proud of their work and efforts.”
And for some educators, like one preschool teacher in Manhattan, just asking simple questions can yield unexpected, and sometimes, heartbreaking results. She recounted when one of her new students took an apple from the snack table, but only ate half.
“I asked him why put the half eaten apple in his pocket, and he said [he was saving] it for his mom,” said the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous. “I told him that he could finish the apple and that I would give him an apple to bring home to his mom. He was so happy that he gave me a hug. My heart melted, [and] I realized how much he and others needed our help.”
For the most part, schools have been effective at providing for the unique needs of their new students. Although New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams claimed that Washington, D.C abandoned the city after the Administration and Congress refused to provide aid for the incoming migrants, schools are coping in the same way they always have, through community.
“Regardless of their immigration status or language spoken at home, every student deserves access to high-quality schools that meet their unique needs,” said Nicole Brownstein, the director of media relations for New York City Public Schools. “We will continue to work with students, families, and partners to ensure that newcomer students have what they need in our public schools and that our schools are well equipped to support these needs.”
Ms. Samphaoron agreed, saying that despite a decline in overall student enrollment since the Coronavirus pandemic, “we have the capacity, the talent, and the heart to welcome everyone.”
However, the increased stress on the public school system, combined with Mayor Adam’s plans to cut the Department of Education’s funding and a rise of anti-immigrant protests and legislation from New York conservatives, all pose threats to the city’s ability to properly care for the new students. In the recent months, there has been a growing backlash to the city’s decision to guarantee shelter, food, and education to any New York resident, regardless of legal status. In Long Island, for instance, hundreds gathered outside of St. John Villa Academy, where some migrant students were housed, claiming the migrants will “destroy New York City” by leaching its resources and infringing on American freedoms.
The situation has escalated to the point where state officials have launched a series of lawsuits and fines against any school district that exhibits discriminatory behavior toward migrant families seeking to enroll their children in school. Any action that hinders a migrant child from joining school is deemed to “violate constitutional and statutory protections,” state members claim. While migrant rights are protected in certain areas like these, they face another important obstacle–finding permanent housing.
Recent migrant groups from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are confronted with the unique position of being among the first in their countries to enter American cities in such large numbers. While New York has always been an immigration hub, those groups have historically followed a path carved out by family members or friends before them.
“A novel aspect is that there is little prior history of significant Venezuelan migration to the U.S., so recent arrivals are less likely to have family members or others on whom they can rely to help them integrate into U.S. society: finding shelter, jobs, and navigating systems such as education and health care,” explained Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications and public affairs at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank. “[This] is why you see a heavier burden on cities such as New York City, where many of the new arrivals have headed.”
While the focus in New York has been on education and job opportunities for incoming migrants, providing shelter has become another pressing issue, especially in a city where proper housing is difficult even for its own citizens. In October 2023, Mayor Adams issued an executive order stating that migrants in emergency housing would be evicted after a 60-day period. This would potentially force thousands of new students and their families to relocate or possibly risk being homeless. Many resolutions passed by the New York Public School community education council have advocated for the removal of the 60-day housing limit for families of public school students, claiming it would create housing insecurity and unstable educational conditions for students.
Ms. Samphaoron has seen the impact of unstable housing on her students and warned of the dangers of relocating families and transferring schools. “Many students have now been attending their neighborhood schools for nearly a year,” she said. “They have formed relationships, begun to take academic risks, joined clubs and sports, participated in school-based community service projects, and have become part of the school culture. Many of these kids have been through a lot of trauma already; I want to make sure that they are in a school where they feel safe, seen, and cared for.”
Despite budget cuts during the nation’s largest migrant crises in decades, one year later, the devoted staff of New York City’s school system has managed to create a space for all students to learn, thrive, and succeed.
“It was actually very nice to see how welcoming the school was [to the new students],” said an elementary school teacher in downtown Manhattan. “We were a little nervous about getting new students because we knew that we would have difficulties communicating with them. But, we relied on doing what we do best, which is providing the students with routines [and] a warm and secure learning environment to help the students and their families.”
In fact, the downtown teacher says, a few of her new students now sit next to her during story time and teach her a few words in Spanish.
“I have a couple of students who have taken on the role of teaching me a few Spanish words every day. They sit attentively when I am reading a book, and then they will come up and point to a picture to teach me a couple of vocabulary words. I teach them the English word and they teach me the equivalent Spanish word. When I say something wrong, they don’t laugh at me; they just come over and tell me the correct way to say it. We’re learning from each other at the same time.”
“I have a couple of students who have taken on the role of teaching me a few Spanish words every day. They sit attentively when I am reading a book, and then they will come up and point to a picture to teach me a couple of vocabulary words. I teach them the English word and they teach me the equivalent Spanish word. When I say something wrong, they don’t laugh at me; they just come over and tell me the correct way to say it. We’re learning from each other at the same time,” said an elementary school teacher in downtown Manhattan.