English-Language Learners

Network for Immigrant Students to Open First Middle School

By Corey Mitchell — August 14, 2015 1 min read
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Officials in the Alexandria, Va., school system just outside Washington will open a new middle school this fall for English-language learners in partnership with the Internationals Network for Public Schools.

The district will open the Francis Hammond International Academy for about 150 students in grades 6 through 8.

The move marks the Internationals Network’s first foray into middle school education.

The New York City-based group, which already operates high school campuses in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Washington area, specializes in English-language learner education, as well as providing services that many recently arrived immigrant students and their families need.

The Alexandria district already operates an academy for English-learners inside T.C. Williams High School. The Washington Post profiled the school last fall in after the surge of unaccompanied minors to the Washington metropolitan area in summer 2014.

In May, Education Week examined how undocumented youth adjusted to life at International Academy at Cardozo, another Internationals Network campus that’s in Washington.

Along with the Internationals Network and immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland, school officials in Prince George’s County, Md., will open two high schools this fall for ELLs this fall.

The schools, located in Langley Park and Largo, will serve roughly 100 9th grade students each with plans to add 100 students each year until the reach their maximum capacity of 400 students.

Related Stories

U.S. Schools Gear up For Surge of Young Immigrants June 2014

Civil Rights Group Opposes Plans for Maryland English-Learner High Schools December 2014

In U.S. Schools, Undocumented Youths Strive to Adjust May 2015

Schools Could See Fewer Unaccompanied Minors This Fall July 2015

A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.