Whole-Person Migrant Services Benefit Students in the Cascade School District

The migrant education services at Cascade School District (CSD) supports migrant students and their families in multifaceted ways, enabling students to be academically successful and feel a sense of socialemotional belonging at school. This crucial work is currently provided to 42 students spread over all the grades.

Emily Ross, principal at Peshastin Dryden Elementary, oversees the program, Cynthia Reyes is the recruiter, and Jill Weil is the migrant graduation specialist. Migrant services are federally funded, and this funding began in the 1960’s and has evolved over the years. “Migrant” is defined as a family having a qualified move every three years around agriculture or fish hatchery work. In the beginning, only about 10% of migrant students graduated from high school.

Now, the national average is closer to 70%. But in CSD, that percentage has been as high as 92% recently. The first step is to recruit families to join the program. Reyes reaches out to local families in-person usually, though that has been disrupted during the pandemic. Once enrolled, migrant students receive extra academic help and wrap-around services. The migrant education services are distinct from the English language learner (ELL) program, but often there is overlap.

Students are exited from the ELL program once they achieve English language proficiency by testing above the state average. “Migrant students face unique challenges,” explained Weil at a recent school board meeting. “Because they move often, their education is interrupted frequently resulting in a lack of a sense of belonging and autonomy. Social-emotional learning and leadership initiatives are key to helping these students. “A continuity of health services is problematic too.

Wrapping a family with community resources often involves collaborating with outside groups and helps these families keep students in school and engaged. Many of these factors affect graduation rates.” CSD engages migrant parents with a parent advisory council. “The parents’ participation and input drive the program to support students,” Ross said at the school board meeting. There are extra needs for high school aged migrant students. Weil is instrumental in helping them navigate these issues. She’s held the migrant graduation specialist position since August 2019, though it was created one year prior.

“My job is varied because the challenges students face in school are varied,” said Weil. “As an example, frequent absences are an obstacle to school success, but there are many reasons for frequent absences. I’ve had one student frequently absent because he had an untreated illness. I helped him connect with a Spanishspeaking general practitioner, and he got the medical treatment he needed. “Another student was frequently absent because a family member was sick, and she was responsible for driving that family member to doctor’s appointments and translating during the appointments. A combination of Upper Valley MEND and Link was helpful to the family in this case.”

“During the pandemic especially, when many families were in crisis mode, some students were absent because they were in charge of caring for younger siblings while parents were at work (childcare referrals were what was needed in this case) and other students were absent because they needed full-time jobs to help their families pay bills— especially if a parent was not able to work due to closures or quarantine. I helped advocate for flexible online assignments in these cases, and often Zoomed with students on the weekends or in the evening after work to help them with assignments.

“It’s tempting to assume that a student who is frequently absent doesn’t care about school, but that’s rarely correct! In all the above cases, once the major obstacle was addressed, students engaged and successfully completed their coursework.”

Weil also helps convert transcript credits from another state or country to values in CSD’s credit system. “Transcript work requires not just figuring out what classes students have taken elsewhere, but determining whether those classes are equivalent enough to ours, in terms of content and rigor, to transfer credit,” explained Weil. “I work with an impressive team at Cascade High School, many with international experience, to make these decisions.”

Migrant students have assistance figuring out what post-graduation pathway is best for them. “I partner with the AVID teachers to take students on college field trips. So far, we’ve toured CWU, WSU, and Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center. I’ve also helped students job hunt, prepare resumes and cover letters, and practice interviews.”

There’s also assistance with filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and applying for scholarships. Collaboration and support from the local and broader community enrich this program. One example is how the Immigration and Race Justice Group of Leavenworth helped fund driver’s education fees for six students. Weil is also seeking another local grant to continue to cover driver’s ed costs.

Additionally, Weil expressed gratitude for her counterparts in the Cashmere, Wenatchee and Okanogan districts, saying, “The North Central Washington Education Service District allows us to get together and learn from each other regularly. Since our program is comparatively new at Cascade, I’ve asked a lot of questions and taken a lot of advice from my veteran colleagues.” Weil, Reyes, Ross and other staff help migrant students be integrated into all aspects of student life. It’s just and expected. Weil said, “Our migrant farmworkers benefit our county because they contribute to our agriculture-heavy economy.”