Building Community in Norristown

September 1, 2011 - In the latest U.S. Census figures, more than 15 percent of residents identified themselves as Latino – the single largest minority group in the country.

But rather than moving to the Southwest and L.A., many are moving to rural and suburban communities where Latinos hadn’t previously settled. These residents are transforming their new homes, bringing with them both challenges and opportunities to local schools.

Penn GSE Professor Stanton Wortham first took note of this phenomenon as a young academic working at Bates College in coastal Maine. There, he observed firsthand the challenges faced by the school’s only bilingual teacher working with some 50 Spanish-speaking newcomers.

Today, Wortham continues to take note – but now in Norristown, a suburb outside Philadelphia. In 1990, Norristown’s Mexican population stood at about 100; today, it’s more like 10,000.

“It’s a very sympathetic group of people, who are working hard to move up in the society,” says Wortham, “just as previous waves of immigrants have done.” In Norristown, these hard-working new residents have revitalized the community, opening businesses, reinvigorating local parishes, and fostering civic engagement.

And Norristown is happy to welcome them. In a public statement, the Town Council president said, “Embracing the new wave of immigration will be a key to our long-term success.”

Still, the cultural and demographic changes present challenges, particularly for public schools. In two of Norristown’s six elementary schools, for example, half of the students come from Spanish-speaking households, but educators have limited experience working with such students.

To help Norristown accommodate these students, Wortham has been developing a program of research and service in concert with the school district. Working with fellow Penn GSE professor Betsy Rymes and a team of graduate students, Wortham is aiming to create new models for how districts can address the needs of Latino students.

A major focus in that collaboration has been the need for increased immigrant parental involvement in the school community. “With funding from the William T. Grant Foundation,” Wortham explains, “we were able to introduce a program that opened bilingual resource rooms for parents and created a Spanish-speaking leadership group to allow parents to share their thoughts with district officials.”

In the resource rooms, bilingual staff meet with parents and students after school on a weekly basis, helping students with academics and helping parents build strong relationships with teachers and the school. In the leadership group, parents have, over time, taken complete ownership of the agenda, developing suggestions and inviting the district superintendent to meet with them about their concerns.

Buoyed by these successes, the GSE team wanted to do more. So Wortham and his colleagues became filmmakers, putting together a professional development film for use by the Norristown School District.

Called Sobresalir – the title means “to get ahead” in Spanish – the film gives teachers a glimpse into the lives of a dozen Spanish-speaking parents who share their stories, their aspirations for their children, and their suggestions for teachers and administrators. Educators are giving the film a thumbs-up, reporting that it has provided them with invaluable insights into students and their families.

Wortham hopes the lessons of Norristown can be applied in communities across the country as they work to accommodate a new wave of immigrants. “The educators are almost always well-intentioned,” he explains, “but they often do not have the language skills, the curriculum materials, and the relevant experience to help with all the challenges these immigrant students face.”