The Fall River School-Community Partnership held the last session of the school year in a series of educational presentations on May 31, 2017, this time on the Achievements and Experiences of Students in Massachusetts Whose First Language Is Not English. Youth whose First Language is Not English (FLNE) represent the fastest growing segment of the United States public school population. In Massachusetts, where one in five students is FLNE, the high school graduation rate for this key sub-group stands at just above 70 percent. The Center for Promise utilized multiple methods to analyze data from over 13,000 FLNE student across the state and in depth group interviews with Latinx students in five school districts to better understand the experiences that support or hinder FLNE student academic persistence. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), one of three State Activation grantees across the nation, chose to focus its effort on supporting a coalition of 10 Massachusetts urban school districts to improve graduation rates for FLNE students. The School-Community Partnership consolidates all youth development planning and coordination activities for the Fall River Schools has created a single group to oversee all issues that affect youth, including youth substance abuse and violence prevention and any intervention involved in preventing youth risk behaviors. Click here for a ten-minute video of the first part of the presentation.

(Top row, left) Diman School Adjustment Counselor Michaela Hetzler and Re-Creation Program Director Annemarie Holly talk with Fall River Youth Services Coordinator Christian McCloskey before the session begins. (Top row, center) Michaela talks with Diman Counselors Julie Ferreira and Bethany Ditata. (Top row, right) SCI Intern Jay Wong, Partners Outreach Manager Jack Shipley, Child and Family Services Staff Member Barbara Beckman and Annemarie Holly talk before the presentation begins. (Middle row) Michaela talks with Stephanie Sturdahl of the Saint Anne's Hosptal Youth Trauma Program while School Resource Officers Jason Pacheco,Eric Huard, and James Riley chat. (Bottom row) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Shannon Varga, left, Graduate Research Assistant Max Margolius, and Research Associate Catalina Tang, right, present their research findings and lead a discussion on the topic.