Bellevue School District focusing on Latino students

Osualdo Tejeda, front, an eighth-grader at Tyee Middle School, and Daniela Orejuela and Cristal Carrillo, eighth-graders from Tillicum Middle School, listen to a presentation about high school.

They got the basics out of the way, from how much homework there is in high school to how to study for the state's standardized tests.

Then the talk at the first Latino Student Leadership Conference turned to dreams. And when it did, Osbaldo Hernandez turned to the middle-school students and smiled.

"My ultimate goal is to replace Bill Gates," said Hernandez, a freshman at Interlake High School in Bellevue, who helped organize the conference.

In its long, hard push for higher achievement, the Bellevue School District is now turning a laserlike focus on Latino students, who have traditionally lagged behind in test scores. It is a problem that shows up on a national scale, as Latino youth struggle against language and cultural barriers.

Over the past year, Bellevue has tried to push past those barriers in a way that suburban Puget Sound has rarely seen. It has formed a parent advisory committee, partnered with a Latino advocacy group, sponsored a series of parent forums, and organized yesterday's conference at Sammamish High School, which drew hundreds of Latino students and parents into a discussion on college and beyond.

At every turn, district officials have acknowledged their ignorance, as a mainly white staff, and asked a crucial question: How can we help?

"We have been very impressed," said Lourdes Salazar, president of the Eastside Latino Leadership Forum (ELLF), an advocacy group the district approached earlier this year. "They're really listening."

As the number of Latino students doubled over the past decade, individual schools have set up support systems of their own. Lake Hills Elementary School created a welcoming committee for new Latino families. Sammamish and Interlake brought Latino college students in to tutor their students. Highland Middle School hired a bilingual instructional assistant, Adalberto Castillo, who works intensively with Latino students and their families.

But it was not until the district organized a parent forum at Highland this spring that Castillo noted a real change. The forum drew more than 60 parents on a school night and generated dozens of questions. Even now, months later, the calls to Castillo are streaming in.

"They are really feeling comfortable," Castillo said. "They are really getting involved in their children's education."

Parent forums have been held at several schools, with more planned for the next school year. At one forum, the district gave parents Spanish-language books to read to their children. At another, district officials showed parents how to track their children's progress online.

Many of the parents are recent immigrants, still learning English and struggling to understand the American school system. Their questions range from how to read a report card to whether all kids can play sports.

"There are just so many things we take for granted, that we assume that everyone knows," said Ann Oxrieder, the district's director of communications, who has led the outreach effort this past year. "We need to do a whole lot better in informing people."

The district has come a long way since 2003, when it revamped its English as a Second Language Program without telling parents. Community leaders came to the school board late that summer, outraged that parents had not been informed.

A parent advisory committee formed by Bellevue Schools Superintendent Mike Riley is working on a range of issues, from creating a more welcoming atmosphere at schools to crafting a curriculum that will better reflect the range of cultures of Bellevue's students.

The image of Bellevue as a haven for white, affluent families still lingers around Puget Sound. But the reality is that more than 60 languages are spoken in Bellevue's schools. Nearly 18 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

And Bellevue is dead set on getting them all ready for college.

The district has consistently made national headlines for its rigor, with more than 80 percent of students now taking college-level courses before they graduate.

There are signs of progress for Latino students, who now account for about 8 percent of the district population. Nearly 60 percent of the Latino graduates last year took college-level courses. The number has shot up significantly in the past several years.

But the dropout rate for Latino students still hovers around 20 percent. Scores on standardized tests dip as far as 40 percentage points below the district average at the high-school level. And relatively few Latino graduates move on to college.

Amanda Roldan has wanted to be a doctor since she was 7. But she has always seen high school as the kind of place that could wreck her dream. So it was a relief yesterday to find the workshop she attended, "What Happens When You Get To High School."

Along with two other students, Hernandez ran through the list of concerns in Spanish, then told the middle-school students that it was all doable, as long as they worked hard, asked for help and joined a study group.

"I'm kind of excited to go now," said Roldan, a Highland student.

More than 150 students sat through workshops yesterday, with topics ranging from how to succeed in college to understanding your rights at work. Parents streamed in later for dinner and entertainment. The event took months of planning and partnership between students, the district, the city and ELLF.

Hernandez recalled the first planning meeting, back in winter, when he could not stop talking.

"I wanted to stay longer than the meeting would take, answering the questions, giving my opinions out," he said.

Since then, Hernandez has worked hard to make his mark. He got donations from local restaurants to hand out as prizes. He suggested topics to be covered, including a session on college and immigration status. And he took photographs of more than 80 Latino students in the district.

He had it all planned out: As parents and students filed in for dinner, those photographs would flash on a screen to the sound of Latin music.

In nearly every photograph, Hernandez had captured a student at work.

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com

From left, Nayley Gonzales and Osbaldo Hernandez of Interlake High School and Lizzette Gonzales of Newport High School lead a discussion called "What Happens When You Go To High School?" at the Latino Student Leadership Conference held at Sammamish High School. (ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
Outreach plans


The Bellevue School District has launched a major outreach effort in the Latino community this past year, hoping to boost student achievement. Here is what the district is considering:

• English as a Second Language classes for parents.

• Spanish lessons for teachers.

• Designating one Latino parent in each school to serve as a welcoming committee for new families.

• Creating a phone tree for Latino parents in each school.

• Setting up Latino leadership clubs in schools.

As the population of Latino students has doubled over the past decade, some schools have already set up their own support systems, including:

• English as a Second Language parent nights, with translators present.

• College nights and family literacy nights, for Spanish-speaking families. Child care is provided.

• Latino community forums on specific topics, such as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) and other state requirements.

• Using translators to connect with Latino families before the school year begins.

• Translating school surveys into Spanish. Sending home school newsletters in Spanish.

• Hiring native Spanish speakers for jobs such as crossing guard and playground aide. Using Spanish-speaking staff to make phone calls home when children are late or absent.