The school that I work for is in a very rural area between Chico and Redding.

Much of the local

population is involved in agriculture/ranching. As a Catholic school and one of only a handful of private
schools in the North Valley we draw students from as far south as Yuba city and as far north as Shasta.
While the majority of our small student body (120 students) is from the local area, they vary greatly
socioeconomically, ethnically, culturally, and nationally. Our student population speaks many languages,
but English and Spanish make up the two largest language groups. As a Catholic school our mission is to
serve the entire community. As such, the school does not turn away students due to their ability to pay
tuition, their religion/faith, culture, language barriers, etc.

Currently we have 21 international students from across Europe, Asia, and South America. Some
students arrive with excellent English or Spanish (the languages utilized most by students and staff)
speaking skills while many students come to us with little means of communicating let alone
understanding curriculum or the local culture. This has created an issue over the past couple years as
the staff has had to reexamine how we instruct students who often do not understand what is going on
around them. There desperately needs to be a change in how these students are educated at our school
as some of the veteran teachers continue to teach their classes without any structures in place to assist
the struggling international students. ESL and International students do currently receive some ESL
instruction, but it is ultimately reserved for just the ESL class. Additionally there is often a tracking of the
ESL and International students by some teachers who tend to give the students a pass due to cultural
precompetence.

To compound this issue there has been a major shift in leadership at the district/diocese level and our
principal has had to take over district administration duties leaving the school with only a part time
principal. This has caused a major issue in the day to day operations, direction our school is headed, and
in the carrying out of new initiatives including addressing language and cultural issues that are arising in
the classrooms. However, this year I was given some administrative duties and am being trained by my
principal to take over as administrator when I have completed this program. As I take on a bigger role in
the school I would like to focus on how to better serve the international and ESL student population.

My principal and I have been engaged in a series of conversations as we plan for the future of the school.
I ultimately would like to see a shift in our school policy and focus that better serves students who are
not native English speakers including native ESL students and international students. I believe the ability
to offer this would increase the quality of education we provide and make our school more marketable
(we are a Catholic non-profit school so we do need to recruit students to stay afloat). Part of this policy
would be to continue to grow our student population by tapping into the larger local Spanish speaking
community and by increasing the amount of international students. The other part of the initiative
would be to create a school community that fosters a more multicultural and international environment
to provide a greater world view for our students. The idea behind this is that our students are going to
inherit a more globalized community that is based on multicultural ideals and the exchange of ideas and
they should be prepared to do so.

To implement this we would have to consider the following:

 Where do we start? What can be put in place immediately to address some of the more pressing
deficits in cultural proficiency and language barriers present in our school?
How do we maintain our identity as a Catholic School with Catholic values and education while
at the same time embracing students who may have no background in Christianity?
o As a private school, we are often afforded the luxury of being able to initiate new
policies like the one Im proposing and tailor our school model/policies to better meet
the needs of our students as long as they are in line with the values of the
Diocese/Church.
How can we better train faculty and staff in ESL and Cross Cultural learning tools as well as
training in cultural proficiency?
Where will we find funding for new programs? (A catholic school does not always qualify for
grants, even if it is underfunded)
How do we foster an inclusive environment at the school?
How do we better involve and incorporate the ideas, values, wants, and needs of our students/
parents/host families/community/and international exchange programs
How can we integrate the local rural/agricultural culture with international cultures to provide
cross cultural learning and experiences?
How can we provide additional support for international students adjusting to the local culture
and language?
How can we make higher education academically and financially viable option for our
international, low income, and ESL students?
How can we work with our diocese/district, our feeder schools (both public and Catholic), and
other organizations to prepare our students for high school and beyond?
Is a Spanish immersion program a viable option for our school and how do we bridge the
program from our feeder schools?
o Some of our Catholic TK-8 feeder schools are beginning to transfer to Spanish immersion

Laozi stated that a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. The initiative Ive just
described seems like a massive undertaking to me right now, but it is something that I think I can
accomplish as I take on a bigger role at school. My principal is very supportive and encourages me to
think about how I can better the school and students education. I have been speaking with him about
my concerns since last year and with his encouragement I have already begun the process of identifying
ways in which we can address the cultural and language issues at the school.

With regards to what I can do immediately to support culturally proficient instruction, I have a leadership
training meeting set up with the Dioceses Professional Development officer and I am planning to ask her
for help developing a curriculum to help some of the other teachers manage language and cultural
issues in their classes. Additionally, I have organized round table meetings with new international and
ESL students, teachers, and ESL/International students who have thrived at our school the last few years
to discuss what have worked and what hasnt. The information gleamed from these meetings will
hopefully help us set up some best practices at our school.