Some Baltimore educators and school leaders say Arabic-speaking families — and their children — are flocking to city schools. But not all schools have the resources to help those students succeed.
Mary Ancinec is the principal of John Ruhrah Elementary/Middle School, where 73% of students qualify for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services. She calls it “a school of many nations.”
“We’ve always historically had a larger English learning population, and we have worked really hard to kind of cater to and build a lot of wraparound services,” Ancinec said.
Ancinec has been working in Baltimore City schools since 1999.
“Throughout the years that I’ve been in Baltimore City schools, I’ve seen a really drastic kind of increase in different language groups — and Arabic speaking students are one of them,” she said. “Each year we get a few more Arabic speaking students.”
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