#MiddletownRI schools are excited to announce a new collaboration to help multilingual students and families. To learn more about the group and its goals, plan on attending a Dec. 3 meeting at 5:30 pm from Aquidneck School.
MEDIA ADVISORY & PRESS RELEASE
Middletown Public Schools
26 Oliphant Lane
Middletown RI 02842
NEW COLLABORATIVE FORMED TO SERVE MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (November 6, 2024) – In an effort to build connections between multilingual learner families, school and the larger community, Middletown Public Schools has created the Multilingual Learner Collaborative.
The new Collaborative developed from a series of stakeholder meetings last fall organized by Megan Mainzer, Middletown School’s Director of Family and Community Engagement, and Root Cause, a nonprofit which builds initiatives to support social change. The feedback from those sessions was used to create a framework for the Collaborative, supported by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, to respond to calls from families and students to feel more connected to the schools and community. “The connection between families and schools is very important. I think the well-being of children improves when we are working together” said Marina Costa, a parent of two multilingual students in Middletown.
The Multilingual Learner Collaborative has a strong backbone team of community organizers, parents and school family liaisons at the helm. They include: Jamoya Ridgell, Manager of the Middletown Child and Opportunity Zone and board Chair of Newport Partnership for Families; Marisa Portillo, Family Education Navigator at Conexion Latina as well as multilingual parent; and Ana Gomes, Multilingual Community Liaison in Newport Public Schools and multilingual Middletown parent, and Mainzer, who is also a parent of multilingual children.
“The Middletown Public Schools are excited for the work of the Collaborative to begin,” Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools Billy Niemeyer said. “We know that making connections between families and schools impacts learning positively. Supporting ALL Middletown students is a priority, and The Multilingual Learner Collaborative is a meaningful step in that direction.”
The Multilingual Learner Collaborative’s goal for the first year is to bring families together in an inclusive multilingual and multicultural way to share information and knowledge by hosting quarterly gatherings. The group will invite community partners to share about their work and resources and build deeper relationships between school staff, leaders and families by hosting workshops with Parent Leaders for Equitable Education (PLEE) as well as other education nonprofits. The next gathering will be held on Tuesday December 3rd with more details to follow.
Another goal is to seek and cultivate youth leadership among the Multilingual students in Middletown, the Multilingual Learner Collaborative has partnered with The Center for Youth and Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) at Roger Williams University to lead a youth participatory action research project (YPAR) focused on the perspectives of multilingual learner students, cultivating their voices and agency in their educational experience.
About the Multilingual Learner Collaborative:
Our mission is to build collaboration between school, family and community by creating an inclusive multicultural and multilingual space for sharing knowledge, understanding, information and community resources. We are committed to creating an equitable learning environment that fosters trust, respect and working together to support ALL families in Middletown.
Media Contacts:
Megan Mainzer
mmainzer@mpsri.net
401-952-9263
