Charleroi School District sees skyrocketing ELL enrollment
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Parents and children attend Charleroi Area School District’s annual Stuff-the-Bus event at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in preparation for the upcoming school year. Charleroi School District has the largest enrollment of students who are English-Language Learners in Washington, Fayette and Greene counties.
Charleroi Area School District, which has the largest English-Language Learner enrollment in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, recently held its annual Stuff-the-Bus event that provides school supplies and other items to the school district’s students.
Courtesy of Charleroi Area School District
Courtesy Charleroi Area School District
Charleroi Area School District’s Stuff-the-Bus event provided school supplies, clothes and other items for the district’s students.
Karen Manfield/Observer-Reporter
Tom Nutting, a member of Charleroi Area School District school board and a retired Spanish teacher, helps non-English speaking parents and children get supplies at the annual Stuff-the-Bus event. Nutting launched the back-to-school event six years ago.
Charleroi Area School District board member Tom Nutting directs parents and children to various tables during the district's Stuff-the-Bus event.
Volunteers distribute school supplies at Charleroi Area School District's annual Stuff-the-Bus event.
At Charleroi Area School District’s annual “Stuff the Bus” – a back-to-school event where the district distributes school supplies, clothes, and other items to students – a volunteer at the registration desk inside St. Andrew the Apostle Parish social hall called out to school board member Tom Nutting, “We need a translator over here!”
Nutting, a retired Spanish teacher, strode over to a mother attending the event with her children and said, “Habla usted Espanol?”
Minutes later, Nutting greeted another family, then turned and asked loudly, “Does anyone here speak French?”
A volunteer who found a French/English translator app on his cellphone walked over to see if he could help.
In recent years, Charleroi has experienced a significant increase in the number of English-Language Learners (ELL), the result of the growing community of refugees and immigrants who have resettled in the borough of 3,800 residents.
The students come primarily from Haiti, but also hail from other South American countries, China and African nations.
The district’s ELL enrollment has increased from four students in 2014 to nearly 100 students for the 2023-24 school year.
Roughly 7% of the school district’s 1,400 students are English-Language Learners; the district has more ELL students than any other school district in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, which include 25 school districts.
The students overwhelmingly speak Haitian Creole, Spanish, and French, but the district has encountered less frequently spoken languages, too.
“We truly embrace the opportunity. We believe diversity has now become our super power in our learning community,” Ed Zelich, superintendent of Charleroi Area School District.
Haitian families began moving to Charleroi in large numbers about 10 years ago, fleeing political unrest and violence in their home country. About 500,000 children have lost access to education due to gang-related violence, and almost half of Haiti’s children face acute hunger.
Zelich said the arrival of students who don’t speak English and often have endured dangerous, traumatic journeys to reach the U.S. has posed significant operational challenges for the district.
Administration and staff are working to better serve its ever-expanding ELL population and to welcome the immigrant community.
This year, the district will have three ELL teachers provided by Intermediate Unit 1, and Charleroi hired Diane Nonack as an English Language Learner Instructional Coach to help teachers learn instructional strategies for teaching ELL students, and to provide support for those students.
Nonack is a graduate of Charleroi High School and taught ELL learners at an inner city school in Phoenix, Ariz. for 12 years.
The district also has a Student and Family Attendance Liaison to address its increased enrollment and student absences.
School counselors and social workers are working closely with the families to provide additional resources and additional support as needed.
The district also partners with Haitian-born Getro Bernabe, who serves as immigrant liaison for the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce and is a tutor for the Literacy Council of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
He helps to bridge the language and cultural gaps that emerge between the school district and Haitian families, and assists with verbal and written communication.
“I’m like the bridge between the immigrants and the local community and the school district. That’s where I feel like I’m a little bit helpful, trying to make them feel like they are home,” said Bernabe.
The district also encourages the newcomer students to participate in sports, clubs, and extracurricular activities to develop connections beyond the classroom.
Charleroi Elementary Center Principal Mark Killinger said the biggest growth in ELL enrollment has occurred in kindergarten through second-grade classes, and noted navigating language barriers is a challenge.
“There’s a range: some children speak a little bit of English, some don’t speak any English at all. The first few weeks of school, it’s just getting through the day. If a child needs to go to the bathroom, how do they communicate that? On my end, I need to make sure they know how to get on and off the bus safely. In Haiti, the problem is there was no real formal education before they came here, so they have to learn how to function in a classroom environment so that they can concentrate on academics.”
The district has integrated creative ways to meet the needs of students. For example, teachers use picture cards so students can communicate what they need, such as a a drink of water.
“It can be overwhelming for the teachers, but they’ve been phenomenal and the ESL teachers are phenomenal,” said Killinger.
On Aug. 23, the school district, in partnership with IU1 and the Literacy Council, is hosting a Welcome Back Festival at Charleroi Elementary School and inviting district residents to tour the school and classrooms. Information tables from several organizations, including Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority, Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board, Southwestern PA Human Services, Washington Health System, and Food Helpers will provide information on services and resources, and food will be available.
Bernabe acknowledges some in town were not always hospitable to refugees, but the school district, community residents and its newest members have made efforts to grow and learn about each other.
Zelich believes the influx of immigrants has strengthened the community, had an impact on the economy, and provided the school district with a stable – even increasing – population of students.
“They’re great people, hard-working people,” he said. “We have about eight or 10 stores they’ve opened recently, especially mini grocery stores and mom-and-pop stores – and they want safe, inclusive, and equitable opportunities for their children, which embraces all of our wishes.”