Blog Post

Serving students AND their families: LEAD Southeast offers adult ESL Classes

Jose Cisillas speaks English fluently, but the Nashville transplant only learned to read and write in his native language of Spanish in school. So when his daughter Kristie, a student at LEAD Southeast Middle, had questions about her homework in English, Cisillas was frustrated that he couldn’t help.

This was first published by LEAD Public Schools.

Jose Cisillas speaks English fluently, but the Nashville transplant only learned to read and write in his native language of Spanish in school. So when his daughter Kristie, a student at LEAD Southeast Middle, had questions about her homework in English, Cisillas was frustrated that he couldn’t help.

“I feel bad because I can only do basic things,” Cisillas said.

Cisillas learned that his daughter’s school, LEAD Southeast, offered parents English classes at night and didn’t hesitate to enroll. He and his wife, Lucia Lopez, attend the classes twice each week and have worked their way up to the Level 3 coursework.

Cisillas says while the roles are reversed right now— Kristie helps her parents with their English homework— he’s excited to see the progress they’ve made in just a few short months attending classes.

“It’s amazing, like a dream, kind of. They are really grateful. They understand more and it makes it easier for them,” Kristie, 11, said.

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About the Nashville Charter Collaborative

For charter public schools in Nashville with a track record of high achievement and high growth, the Nashville Charter Collaborative offers their leaders a structure to work together on areas of shared need, such as professional development and recruitment of high-quality teachers. Collectively, we believe that education transforms lives and that every child in Nashville has the right to a high-quality public education.In the fall of 2018, the Collaborative formalized as a program of the Tennessee Charter School Center to provide member schools with an official structure to continue growing their work together.

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