Newcomer Support Services

Teachers highlight the value of community schools for powerful learning and high levels of support so students thrive.

We are proud to offer tailored services to help schools and districts address the unique needs of newcomer students.

Newcomers – immigrant students in their first years of U.S. schools – are among the most resilient and vulnerable groups of students in California’s K-12 system. Newcomer students typically arrive in the US with limited English proficiency and face the additional challenge of acculturating to a new country and new learning environment.

Many have experienced significant trauma and economic hardship, which can create additional barriers to learning. Our state collectively struggles to meet newcomers’ distinct academic and social-emotional needs. These challenges contribute to disproportionately high dropout rates, low graduation rates, and low college/career readiness among newcomer students.

Newcomer Teacher Participants Say...

  • “The visual of bridge-making between language and cultures was helpful and allowed me to formally add a vital component to my instructional planning.”

    - Newcomer Teacher

  • “I enjoyed the environment you created and the safe space for conversations. I also loved when you shared books or art ideas."

    -Newcomer Teacher

  • “We appreciate our time with you so much! The material is rich, and we will be referring back to it as things come up.”

    -Newcomer Program Lead

Heartwise Presents

NEW Workshop Series:
Newcomer Teacher Professional Development

Newcomers – immigrants in their first years of U.S. schooling – are growing in schools. Despite their increasing numbers, many educators struggle to support these language learners.

Join a community of peers committed to helping newcomer students succeed in and beyond the classroom.

Learn More  ➜

“I enjoyed the environment you created and the safe space for conversations”

– Newcomer Teacher

Professional Development

Newcomer Teachers

We provide targeted professional development to support newcomer teachers to grow and thrive in their instruction.

Sample topics for professional learning sessions or workshops include:

  • The social context of newcomer students locally and nationally 

  • Affirming the unique linguistic and cultural assets of newcomers

  • Creating powerful, safe, and trauma-sensitive classrooms

  • Building relationships with multilingual families

  • Leveraging district and community resources to serve students’ whole selves

  • Creative instructional practices–incorporating art, culture, storytelling, and other strength-based practices into the classroom.

Strategic Planning and Coaching for District Staff

We partner with your program team to design/refine a theory of action reflective of your community’s unique values and goals. We will help you assess your needs, assets, resources, and systems within a quality newcomer program framework, plan scale-up efforts, and offer coaching and strategies to strengthen or expand your newcomer supports, all within a whole-child, whole-community framework.

Evaluation and Continuous Improvement

We support your team to identify and capture relevant data to assess student and program success. This includes strengthening your existing student information systems to be responsive to and reflective of newcomers, as well as conducting qualitative and quantitative assessments to support ongoing learning and improvement.