Newcomer Ambassador Program
Santa Clara Unified School District
Newcomer Ambassador Program is a student peer-to-peer initiative that fosters school connection and academic success for English Language Learners. Using the assets of multilingual students, this program nurtures resilience and inclusive support systems by providing: Campus Tours, Peer Tutoring, and In-Class Multilingual Aides, in the student’s native language. It was inspired and is currently implemented by those who personally experienced the challenges of transitioning into U.S. schools. Ambassadors provide culturally responsive, native language-based partnerships beginning on day one of enrollment. This program motivates English learners, develops leadership skills, and empowers those with limited English proficiency. By creating a healing and welcoming environment, the Newcomer Ambassador Program promotes a sense of belonging. Our model is a two-way road of uplifting the newcomer students, while empowering the marginalized multilingual population.
Program Summary
The goal of the Newcomer Ambassador Program is to provide equitable access to curriculum and the school community by providing 1:1 peer support in the English Language Learners' (ELLs) native language. Our trained multilingual student officers achieve this by developing and managing the branches of Campus Tours and Peer Tutoring. ELLs are one of the most vulnerable populations on our school campus, both in academic achievement and attendance. Being a teenager is tough on its own. Coming from a different country brings an additional set of challenges. According to Aeries Analytics, 44% of our Beginning ELL students are chronically truant, compared to 11.5% of the student body. On average, 71% of our Beginning ELLs are failing core subjects, such as Math, Science, and Social Studies. Our vision was not only to alleviate the ELL struggle at the school site, but also to target the district LCAP goal of - 1.8 - “Provide supplemental site-level support for improved instruction and academic intervention according to unduplicated student needs”. The work that the Ambassadors do also focuses on state priority #5 - School Climate and Engagement. Through our campus tours, newcomer students create relationships with enrolled multilingual speakers from day one. This sparks a sense of belonging, which in turn encourages school connection and attendance. Peer Tutoring serves to address students’ academic needs by providing 1:1 support in core classes.
Program Goals
In Wilcox HS, 12% of the student body is classified as ELL. Of these students, 40% are classified as Beginning level, and 53.3% have been in the U.S. for 3 years or less. The program is designed to help these particular newcomer students succeed socially and academically. Social acceptance directly correlates to a student's academic success and attendance (Osterman, 2000). On the first day of enrollment, student campus tour guides greet the newcomer student in their native language. Our list of trained tour guides is not only curated by native language but also by the country of origin, to ensure cultural harmony.
During the tour, the tour guide not only presents the school, but also asks guided questions to truly get to know the newcomer student. Since the implementation of tours, our newcomers have joined sports teams, clubs on campus, and have participated in events such as Homecoming. In order to ensure equity and increase access to class content and curriculum, our bilingual student leaders train tutors to provide one-on-one weekly tutoring. Currently, 27% of our newcomer population is receiving one-on-one tutoring, many with immense gaps in educational and technological backgrounds. Over 91% of tutees rated the help they received from our peer-tutoring program as good or excellent. “The individual tutoring sessions are making a huge difference in the school and more for the Latinos, thank you very much for creating this very supportive program.” - Yensi P.
Impact on Students
The Newcomer Ambassador Program first began in Spring of 2023, with the pioneering ELLs addressing the student body, asking for help and support of their newcomer classmates. The first student leadership team was formed in August of 2023, recruiting and training our first multilingual tutors, campus tour guides and in-class multilingual aids. Since then, the program has blossomed and grown tremendously. Its success is due to its strong foundation of passionate leaders, training, and supporting future officers. The initiative has the support of the district office, board members, school administrators and parents as a way of empowering a very vulnerable population. In the Spring of 2024, our student leaders presented to the school board, District English Language Advisory Committee, and EL Steering Committee (DELAC). We work closely with the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, who provides resources, funding, and guidance. This program is also supported by the English Language Advisory Committee (ELAC), since many of the members' kids are either receiving or offering tutoring services. The members also appreciated the welcoming environment that the campus tour guides provided when their pupils first enrolled, encouraging the students to join sports, clubs, and other activities. The program is funded primarily by the SPSA, as it meets “Goal One: Access to resources for targeted populations.” We also receive funds from the ASB, PTSA mini-grants, and DonorsChoose.
Sustainability
The student-led Newcomer Ambassador Program was created after a number of teacher-centered programs were unsuccessful. With the implementation of AB 2785, the newcomer English Language Learners feared for their grades and their inclusion in the Wilcox community. With the removal of the ELL Cohorts, the former newcomers questioned, “how would the new students know where to go, how to get their PE uniforms, or understand the lunch line, if we are not there to help them?” The teachers tried to provide support by mentoring newcomers one-on-one, but the same challenges persisted - not speaking their native language or understanding the culture. The solution lay in the wisdom of the students themselves. They didn’t need the help of adults; they needed an institutional structural change that facilitated their ability to help their peers. The students have the ideas, the skills, speak the language, and understand the needs of their counterparts. Our multilingual students truly hold the key to helping the newcomers be successful. These students continuously bring creative ways of helping others feel more accepted, welcome, and successful in school. Unlike any other ELL support, this program is 100% led by multilingual students, with two teacher advisors. Some of the challenges faced were implementing the different branches and truly serving our entire newcomer population of varying languages, cultures, and grades.
Innovation
This program can be implemented at any school site that has caring adults who are excited to work with students, to truly listen, guide, and empower. The most important aspect is asking the right questions. Student leaders exist everywhere, they just need that one staff member to show them the path. We have presented this program at the SCCOE Inclusion conference, the California Association of Bilingual Education (CABE) conference of 2025, and are slated to present at this year’s National Association of Bilingual Education conference and CABE again; to help other schools establish this at their site. We have already trained personnel from 4 different districts in CA.The program requires a very small budget, as the funds are solely used to pay teachers hourly, for their work outside of contract hours, and for snacks that are given to tutors/tutees. Many schools have EL engagement as part of their LCAP goals and can utilize this as a tool in reaching those objectives. This is a very low-budget solution to highly impact a vulnerable population. Our student leaders have created manuals, training sessions, and presentations that were shared with the board members, superintendent, DELAC and EL Steering committee members. As the student leaders mentor tutors and campus tour guides, we continuously reflect on ways to improve and update our program. We have also developed and streamlined best practices of recruitment and growth that can be shared and replicated easily.
Replicability
Supporting Data & Info
Video of Program
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