Anglophone West uses extra funding for newcomer welcome centre

The Anglophone West School District has opened its first welcome centre to help newcomers find their wayas enrolmentof Syrian studentscontinues to rise.

David McTimoney, the district superintendent,says the centre became a possibilityafter the provincial education department provided anextra $1.65 million.

"The bulk of that money would be spent on people, so we're looking at the hiring of teachers and the hiring of education assistantsand really a lot of that hiring has been done,"McTimoneytoldInformation Morning Fredericton.

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"We saw that there was going to be a need for extra [teachers]not only because classes were going to be over the legal size in some cases but also totarget specificchallenges with respect to many students learning English as a new language," McTimoney told Information Morning Fredericton.

Since January, the Anglophone Westdistrict has registered approximately 250 new international students, 200 of themfrom Syria.

"When you look at all 69 of our schools... I'll say that there's still room but here in the cityof Fredericton our schools are pretty tight," McTimoney said.

International students continue to arrive

McTimoneysaid the districtdoesn't have final numbers of how many teachers will be added.

Now that classes have started, he said the district will take another look at final numbers and class sizes and shift teachers or add teachers if necessary.

Some teachers have been hired who will focus on teaching English as a second language for newcomers.

He says the biggest challenge has been the large number of students who have arrived in a short period of time.

"When we look at our welcome centre, this year we've registered 75 international students in these last few weeks and these students are going to attending 14 schools and they come from 18 different countries including Syria."

Information Morning - Fredericton11:14David McTimoney - Extra Funding

The ASD-West Superintendent is making plans to accommodate the influx of Syrians and other newcomers in the district this year.

The new welcome centre is located at George Street Middle School.

"We always do our best to make sure that they feel welcome. We do all we can to meet not only their academic needs but we're cognizant of their cultural needs as well," he said.

"We're seeing all of our students that are now sharing classes with children from varying countries, we're seeing students exposed to different cultures, we're seeing students who are stepping up and showing a welcoming attitude and trying to reach out to other kids."