Merancas Foundation funds ESL program at Greater Brunswick Charter School

$6,000 grant pays for two sessions of adult education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW BRUNSWICK (Oct. 16, 2008) — The Merancas Foundation has given a $6,000 boost to the Family Literacy Program at Greater Brunswick Charter School.

The grant, awarded Sept. 29, will provide full funding for the program, which is free and open to the general public. Three classes will be offered to immigrant parents in each session: at least one English as a Second Language class for beginners, and one Advanced Conversation Group. Overall goals for the program include helping adult students to bolster their English proficiency, to increase their understanding of school systems and procedures, and to become more involved in the education of their children. Specific goals will be set by the adult students themselves.

In addition to the program for adult students, the charter school will offer a concurrent program for school-age children that will provide help with homework and other activities to support the English and literacy skills of the children. More than half the students at the school are Hispanic, many of whom are first-generation children of immigrants whose families speak Spanish at home.

Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays for eight consecutive weeks, beginning Oct. 29. A second session will be offered in the spring. Both sessions are organized by Daniel Scibienski, the ESL instructor at the charter school.

"The generosity of the Merancas Foundation has made it possible for Greater Brunswick Charter School to fund our entire Family Literacy Program this year," said Jessica Tomkins, chairperson of the charter school's board of trustees. "Our Spanish-speaking members have been very enthusiastic about the ESL classes we have offered them over the past two years, and many have expressed their desire to improve their English in order to help their children in school, communicate more effectively with native English speakers, and achieve personal success in the United States. Thanks to this gift of the Merancas Foundation, their success and their progress in English will continue to grow."

Classes for both adults and children will be led by staff from the charter school, with the assistance of middle school students from Greater Brunswick whose personal learning goals include community service or working with children. Childcare for preschool children also will be available.

Founded in 1998 in accordance with New Jersey's charter school law, and located at 429 Joyce Kilmer Ave., Greater Brunswick serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade, from its founding districts of New Brunswick, Edison and Highland Park, as well as from more than a dozen other school districts. Now celebrating its 10th year, the school is preparing to embark on an expansion project that will double its available space and that will raise its enrollment from 270 students to 360.

For more information, call Education Director Rob Agree at the school, at (732) 448-1052.

On the web: www.greaterbrunswick.org

www.merancas.org