There is a new resource for the 5,500 Jordan School District students and their families who are learning to speak English or are new to the country. A Family Engagement Center has been placed at Joel P. Jensen Middle School, where 29% of the student body are multilingual learners.

The purpose of the center is to increase parent involvement at the school and in the community, said Lisa Jimenez, who teaches at the new center.

“The goal is to have— in all of our schools—a higher level of involvement, where we can engage the families,” Jimenez said. “Because the more that parents and families are involved, there's a higher success rate for our students.”

At the Family Engagement Center, those new to the country or who struggle with English skills, no matter their native language, can access resources to ease their transition and help them interact more confidently in their community. The center provides tips for working with the immigration department, the process of getting a Utah driver's license and resources for employment and healthcare.

“We help them have a basic understanding of how those systems work, because a lot of them are here in a brand-new country,” Jimenez said.

One of the main resources the center provides is morning and evening English classes. The classes, which are open to speakers of any language, focus on practical, conversational and skill-oriented English. Jimenez said these skills help people feel more confident in situations such as job interviews, interacting with their bank and talking with their child’s teacher.

One student said he attends the English classes to help him improve his conversational skills so that he can prevent miscommunications at work.

“Every day I learn something here,” he said.

Classes benefit both newcomers and those who’ve lived in the country a long time but haven’t had the opportunity or time to master the new language.

“I know that there is a great need, and I'm hoping that, over time, as people are more aware that this is available, that we'll have more students,” Jimenez said.

Some students attend the class to have a safe place to practice their English skills. One student said people often tell her they can’t understand her when she speaks in English.

“Sometimes I feel frustrated because sometimes when I want to practice, Americans, they not let me to talk in English, and not in Spanish, so I never practice,” she said.

 Copper Mountain Middle School in Herriman also has a Family Engagement Center. Jimenez said the centers are created when the community needs one, however, even schools without a formal engagement center can provide support and resources to families.

“It doesn't always even need to be a center,” she said. “Family engagement really just means families engaging with schools, engaging with the community, and that can look different at different schools.”

 She said the schools most successful in making families feel welcome and involved are those that have collaboration between the school, parents and community.

At West Jordan Middle School, the Latinos in Action leadership students plan school and community events that involve the families of their large Latino student population. In March, they held their annual Noche Latina to celebrate Latino culture.

“We are super passionate at our school about giving opportunities to our students, families and cultural groups in our community to showcase and teach pride in their culture,” WJMS Latinos in Action Teacher Rocky Gubernick said. “Noche Latina has allowed our school to become a facility of learning to be used by all members in our community, not just our students.” λ