The Rochester City School District hosted the first Bilingual Parent Summit Aug. 25 to offer information on special education, graduation requirements and community services.
School board member Beatriz LeBron led the efforts to help Spanish-speaking families, particularly those recently arrived from Puerto Rico, understand the differences between their previous school systems and the Rochester district.
Nearly 100 families registered for the summit held at the district’s central offices, LeBron said.
The families “have a right to information about their children’s education … and we have lots of Latino resources in Rochester,” she added.
LeBron also is forming a task force to look at bilingual education overall and address the 20 percent graduation rate for Latino students in the district.
Grisel Figueroa, who arrived in Rochester six months ago from Puerto Rico, said she appreciated the information provided at the summit. She and her 4-year-old son, Osvaldo Omar Cordero, continue to live with family locally.
Her son, who was to begin kindergarten at School No. 46, was diagnosed with autism in preschool.
“Es bueno importante asistir (las familias) y conocer las personas con las mismas situaciones,” dijo Figueroa.
“It’s good to help (the families) and meet other people in the same boat,” Figueroa said.
For more information on district services, visit https://bit.ly/2BUId9x.
