Program helps Somali kids adjust to schools and school culture

The word nabad means "peace" in Somali, but in the Minneapolis Public Schools it is also the name of a program that helps students from Somalia adjust to life in American schools. The New-to-Country Accelerated Bilingual Academic Development (NABAD) program introduces students not only to academics but also to elements of school culture that may be alien to them, such as eating lunch in a school cafeteria. According to an article in MinnPost:

Typically immigrants and students still learning English are given English as a Second Language (ESL) services, bridging the transition from learning academic skills in their native language to learning in English.

Yet even when delivered in large doses by the most talented teachers, ESL doesn't make up for the gaps present when an older child has never been to school. Concepts like long division or photosynthesis are hard even when you understand the words in which the lesson is being delivered, said James Kindle, the teacher in NABAD's second classroom, which houses grades 3-6.

We talk with an educator in the Multilingual Department at Minneapolis Public Schools.