Newcomer Welcome Centers open at San Diego Unified to support immigrant students

San Diego Unified School District’s (SDUSD) Newcomer Welcome Center at Crawford High School officially opened Friday with dance and a ribbon cutting.

It is one of five Welcome Centers in the district. They are funded by a $1.7 million grant from the city of San Diego.

With more than 75 languages spoken across the district and roughly 1,500 to 3,000 new immigrant students each year, San Diego Unified interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said these centers help make these students and their families feel supported and cared for.

"San Diego and San Diego Unified carries the profound responsibility of being, not just a border city, but a place of refuge and possibility," she said. "Our schools embraced this mission, becoming the starting point of new chapters in countless young lives. By welcoming these children and families, affirming our belief in a world where every child deserves the chance to learn, grow and dream, no matter where they come from."

Aristote Benjamín has been in the U.S. since May. He said the adjustment has been difficult.

"The hardest thing was going to school and not knowing the language," he said in Spanish. "The same with talking to other students or making friends."

He said the Newcomer Welcome Center understands what he and others like him are going through. The people there helped him with schoolwork and meeting new people.

"I feel really good. I'm grateful," he said. "They have helped me."

Marissa Alan, SDUSD's senior director of the multilingual education department, said the centers' purpose is to help students and families integrate into the community.

"When they arrive, we want to make sure that they feel welcome," she said. "Every single student that arrives has a right to an education. And we want to make sure that they know what their rights are and that they know their rights and that they feel welcome."

The centers are set up at five high schools around the city, and most are open one day a week. They are envisioned as a lounge where families can come in and get connected to resources.

"Families come to us, and we're able to provide services and support that make them feel welcome, providing services in their primary language, and just guidance in how to navigate the school system in the United States," Alan said.

They also provide basic needs, housing resources, connections to community agencies, transportation and interpretation.

For more information about the Newcomer Welcome Center, visit the SDUSD Newcomer Support page.