Groveland Park welcomes new Hmong students to their first day of school
12/7/2004 3:40 PM | | Students from the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand rode the bus to school, along with current Groveland students. |
Groveland Park Elementary School will open its new Transitional Language Center Wednesday, Dec. 8--three weeks ahead of schedule.
On Wednesday, the new Transitional Language Center (TLC) will open its doors to 26 students who recently immigrated to Saint Paul from the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand. For many of the new students, their first day of school at Groveland will be their first ever day of school.
According to Principal Cleva Jobe, students and staff at the school are excited to meet the new students. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our school," she said. "We're looking forward to helping our new students learn and grow  | | New Groveland Park students got ready to enter Groveland Elementary for their first day of school. |
in their new school. And we're also looking forwarding to learning about their culture and experiences."
Earlier this year, the school district opened TLCs at Como Park, Hayden Heights and Phalen Lake elementary schools. Each TLC has five classrooms and a capacity of 125 students. To meet students' needs, TLC classrooms are bi-lingual and many instructional materials must include both languages.
On Nov. 15, Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Patricia Harvey announced that the district would open new TLCs in the coming months--one at Groveland in January followed by another at Parkway Elementary School.
At the time of Harvey's announcement,  | | The new students were led into the school by teachers and principals. |
about 735 students from the camp were enrolled in district schools. Since then, 230 additional students from the camp have enrolled, making it necessary for Groveland's TLC to open ahead of schedule.
Since learning that Groveland would be opening a TLC, students and their parents, staff, and community members have already launched a clothing drive for the new students and donated hundreds of school supplies to the school.
For more information about Groveland, visit www.groveland.spps.org. To make a donation to their clothing drive, make donations at the school, 2045 St. Clair Ave.
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