Current Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata spoke at a meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in this 2024 archive photo.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
Fort Worth ISD has shared with teachers and families for the first time what instruction could look like for students from International Newcomer Academy when they assimilate to other schools in the district following the school board’s vote to close the campus last week.
In an email obtained by the Star-Telegram that was originally sent to families, students and staff, Superintendent Peter Licata said students who previously attended INA, the district’s only campus designated for immigrants and refugees, would continue to receive the support they need, and it would be delivered directly to them in daily classes in reading, math, science and social studies.
“They can learn both academic content and English at the same time, while also having full access to electives, enrichment opportunities, and postsecondary readiness pathways available at their home campus,” Licata wrote.
The email tells families that their INA children will engage in grade-level lessons with additional support for Early Language Learners directly built into instruction. That will include structured student conversations to build better English understanding, language objectives assigned to each lesson, visual supports and models, sentence frames and guided discussion, and a collaborative learning environment with their peers.
Certified English as a Second Language experts will also support teachers who have former INA students in their classrooms, along with access to materials in multiple languages. Teachers will receive coaching to help them craft their lessons to ELL and ESL students effectively.
“This means your child will learn grade-level content while building language skills, with strong support and high expectations,” Licata wrote.
District officials previously told the Star-Telegram that they already know where each student who was expected to return to INA for the 2026-27 school year would be transferred to, and each family has already been notified. INA had approximately 48 students slated to return next school year before it was voted to close, but that number would have grown as the first day of the academic year got closer.
Licata wrote to families that each of those students will be supported both socially and emotionally as they make the transition to their larger home campus. Those steps will include: creating opportunities for former INA students to find connection and belonging, bettering multilingual communication with families, and adding staffers and targeted support when needed at campuses with a higher number of newcomer students.
Fort Worth ISD already had hundreds of immigrant and refugee students enrolled in standard middle and high school classes across the district before the vote to close INA. Data from the district showed those students were performing better academically than the ones at INA, Licata said.
“We know that social belonging is a powerful predictor of academic success,” Licata wrote. “Research on newcomer students shows that integration into schools and communities with strong peer relationships and access to extracurricular life produces better social-emotional and academic outcomes. In Fort Worth ISD, the majority of newcomers students are already enrolled in comprehensive middle and high schools across the district, and they are succeeding in these settings.”
The district will also work toward making sure all secondary literacy teachers are in the process of obtaining ESL certification, and building a foundation of skills that can help support language development within normal curriculum.
“I have a lot of scholarly backing that says this isn’t great for kids,” Licata previously told the Star-Telegram about INA. “It’s actually unfair to them, because they’re not exposed to other things. UCLA and Stanford have put out some of the most influential data on this. As long as we are providing the support in schools, that’s the key. It’s not falling off the end of the earth. We’re pushing in and giving just as much, if not more support.”
Licata’s email detailing plans for former INA students comes after more than 130 people signed up for a public comment session during the April 28 meeting where board members voted to close the campus. Dozens of those speakers pressed Licata and the board to share a plan or vision for next steps. Most attendees at the time felt like there was no plan in place and the decision was being made too fast.
“If these students are transitioned to their home schools and placed in a comprehensive, this population will most likely be left behind,” said Kathryn Lemmons, a speaker during public comment on April 28. “They will have difficulty mastering the curriculum at the rigorous pace demanded of the teachers. What accommodations do you envision happening in a mainstream classroom to support newcomers who have no formal education?”
In his email Friday, Licata wrote in bold font that the district is not removing support for ESL and ELL students, but are instead focused on creating the same support in a different environment.
As INA students transition to their home schools this coming fall, Licata said the district’s three main goals will be to make sure each student: has access to rigorous, grade-level learning every day; gets adequate support needed to succeed; and is part of a larger school community where they feel connected.
“This is about more than academics, it is about expanding access, strengthening opportunity and ensuring every student is positioned for long-term success,” Licata wrote. “We are committed to delivering on that promise for your child every day.”
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Samuel O’Neal is the K-12 Education Reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, covering public schools and policy that impacts them. He previously worked as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a graduate of Temple University.