Calgary school board assessed thousands of newcomer students ahead of school year

Calgary student Sofia Proshyna is still working to translate what she's hearing while she's at school, but she's getting better all the time. 

She's a Grade 10 student at Centennial High School who started school in Calgary in February. She and her family recently moved to Canada from Ukraine. 

"It's just for me, it's just a little bit harder than for other students," she said. 

"Sometimes my brain doesn't work in English. I hear what somebody said to me, but I can't understand it. But I know these words, but can't understand it in this sentence." 

Organizations that support newcomer students say the number of students they're supporting has vastly increased. This comes as schools are already overcrowded. 

The CBC spoke to Calgary teachers and newcomer support groups about what that means for city schools. 

LISTEN l How thousands of new students from Afghanistan and Ukraine are fitting into Calgary classrooms

Frank Cattoni, the CEO of the Calgary Bridge Foundation For Youth, an organization that works with school boards to help young newcomers entering local schools, said there's been a "several 100-fold" increase in the number of students the organization is supporting, and they're setting new records monthly. 

"We are seeing young people that are very vulnerable — that require additional supports," he said. 

"Where do you go next? It takes a long time to build new schools, and in the meantime the pressure is happening right now." 

The Calgary Board of Education Welcome Centre registered 7,771 non-Canadian citizen students between July 1, 2022 and May 19, 2023.

The CBE also completed 2,028 English language assessments since the beginning of July — about 108 assessments per day. These assessments determine where to place newcomers in classrooms. 

The Calgary Catholic School District told CBC its reception centre has registered approximately 1,200 students between July 17 and Sept. 1, a similar amount to last year. 

Bindu Narula, director of resettlement and integration services at the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, said the organization is working to support teachers, who will sometimes text their staff asking for additional support. 

"I think the teachers find it, initially at least, challenging to kind of understand a bit about refugees because the trauma manifests itself in different ways," she said. 

"Could they use more help? I'm sure. Is it enough? Probably not. Can we always do more? Yes. But I do want to recognize that we've had an incredible kind of influx of people and with this environment, budgetary environment, I think it's commendable what [teachers have] been able to achieve." 

She can't say students aren't falling through the cracks, but her organization tries to mitigate the number of students who give up on their education.

"There are the normal trials and tribulations of any teenager or any youth or child going to school. There's always that issue of fitting in. And for refugees and for many newcomers it's also a question of language. They might have gaps in their schooling," she said. 

One high school chemistry teacher said there can be a lot of things for new students to adapt to and teachers aren't always equipped to handle those needs. CBC News is not identifying that teacher because of concerns that she might face repercussions at work.

"If you have a large class — and some students will tell me, could you slow down? This is my second language and I'm still figuring it out," she said. 

"It's pretty tough for a high school student or a 17-year-old to learn a second language and then hit the ground running in a chemistry class." 

Lisa Starr, dean of the faculty of education at the University of Lethbridge, said there's a diverse level of support needed for newcomers and, in part, the challenge is to provide adequate support across the city.

"You don't necessarily have everyone circling into one neighborhood, or one school. So it puts some stress on school divisions and school boards to make sure that resources are available across all of their schools," she said.  

"It's a much more complex, intricate problem than just simply 'give us more money, add more teachers and we'll solve it ourselves.'"

She said increased communication between service groups and schools, and more one-on-one time with educational assistants could be a part of ensuring students get the support they need. 

"We tend to think of these organizations and community supports as operating in particular ways or functions. But what's common is the young people that they're serving and the families that they're serving." 

Starr added that schools and groups helping newcomers do share one purpose. 

"We really care about the kids that we're working with. It can get you a long way, but it can't get you all the way." 

In an emailed statement to the CBC, the Calgary Catholic School Division said its English language learning team provides students with diverse learning teachers, wellness and multicultural workers, English language development classes, and access to agency partners.

Calgary Catholic said, in addition to registration support through its centre, it can provide families with access to interpreters and settlement workers through the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth's settlement workers in schools program.

The CBE said in an emailed statement that its 2023-24 school budget has increased, and it is hiring more teachers and educational assistants to address the pressures it's experiencing.

The CBE said once students' language and admissions assessments have been completed, student information is transferred to schools. Schools complete the registration, contact families and work with the student and their family closely as they begin learning in a new school environment.