Baltimore County is done making non-English-speaking families travel miles to the only in-person center that enrolls their students in language support services. Now, the center is driving to them.
The new Mobile Welcome Center looks like a bright blue school bus, parked every Tuesday at four different schools in east Baltimore County towns.
But inside, students take English proficiency tests to determine the level of support they need. And parents are connected with other resources, like healthcare and proof-of-residency documents, that they need to start school.
“It's our job to help them jump through those hoops and get the kids enrolled and attending,” said Mark Anelli, the county’s English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) liaison.
“We notify the school that they're receiving a student who's going to be in need of ESOL services, we give [the family] information about where the school is located, what to bring when they get there,” Anelli said. “And we talk to them about the attendance and residency requirements that they'll need to provide.”
Charissa Huie is a transition facilitator who works at the mobile center. Her job is to administer the English test, and based on the results, enroll the student in ESOL services at their school.
Huie says she thinks of her job as being a “point-person” for families new to Baltimore County – and often, new to the country.
“If I went to a foreign country, I would need some sort of point person. So we try to be that for the families,” she said. “A lot of them are sort of apprehensive about calling the school because of the language barrier. So instead of calling the school, they call us, because they know that we have that sort of bridge.”
The mobile center typically sees around seven families each Tuesday, Anelli said. But that makes a big difference.
“We are a huge county,” he said. “Logistically, it's difficult for families to come to the one center that we have available in Catonsville. Some of them don't have vehicles, so they pay $50 for an Uber to get from Dundalk over to Catonsville.”
The bus system isn’t perfect, Anelli said. They’re limited to four spaces, and limited to only one day each month at the four designated schools. And staff often have to consult a “language line” phone service to fill the gaps in dialects they don’t speak.
The mobile center is the latest county effort to expand ESOL services. Right now, only nine middle and high schools offer second-language services.
“But we're trying to expand now,” Anelli said. “All elementary schools have the program.”
And, Anelli said, 13 secondary schools will begin offering services this year – with more to join in the years ahead.
