The buses prepared to depart, full of passengers who weren\u2019t ready to say goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Honking horns blared through the mugginess of a May afternoon. Suddenly, students reached through the narrow crack of the barely open windows; their hands frantically waving back and forth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other side of the glass, a crowd of teachers clustered outside a sprawling brick school building tucked among a trove of houses. They blinked back tears, tried to smile. Then, they waved back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur babies,\u201d said librarian Elvira Watson, eyes pooling, voice choking. \u201cOur babies are flying away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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It was the last day of school at the International Newcomer Academy<\/a>. But when the summer heat simmers down, beckoning in a new school year, students will no longer come flooding through these doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the end of this school year, came the end of this school.\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, the Fort Worth<\/a> ISD board of managers unanimously voted<\/a> to close the specialized campus for newly-arrived immigrants and refugees. Last October, the Texas Education Agency<\/a> announced it was taking over the district<\/a>, after one of its campuses earned a failing grade for five consecutive years. The state appointed a new superintendent and replaced the locally elected trustees with managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n But before students waved goodbye to their teary-eyed teachers for the last time; before those teachers pleaded with state-appointed leaders during a packed school board meeting; before those leaders succeeded their elected predecessors in a controversial takeover, there was a school \u2014 and a question.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s a question that\u2019s been raised in school districts across the country. In Fort Worth ISD, it\u2019s a decades-old question that stirs up emotions, clashes and uncertainty: Is a separate school the best way to serve newcomers?<\/p>\n Superintendent Peter Licata says having a standalone program for newcomers amounts to segregation and that the model produces lackluster results. Teachers, students and education experts say newcomer schools offer the targeted support needed to help these students acclimate \u2014 academically and socially \u2014 to a new country.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t know a whole lot about renovation on homes and things like that, but I do know that if the bones of the building are good and strong and lasting, you don’t tear it down. INA had good bones, you don’t tear it down. Even if you do, the people will not give up on the students,\u201d said Suzanne Barton, one of the school\u2019s first teacher-directors.<\/p>\n District officials declined to make Licata available for an interview. They did not respond to a list of questions about the closure.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> Staff, parents, students plead for hours, but here are the changes coming to Fort Worth ISD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Students hug goodbye on the last day of school at International Newcomer Academy, a specialized campus for immigrant and refugee students in Fort Worth, on Thursday, May 21, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Newcomer school opened in 1993<\/p>\n INA served sixth through ninth grades, and students stayed for one or two years before attending their neighborhood school.\u00a0INA was established in 1993 as a standalone transitional program, because school leaders worried about overcrowding at language centers housed in district schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students have hailed from all over the world. Some experienced hardship or witnessed violence. A few already knew English, most didn\u2019t know a lick of it. And there were those who struggled in their native tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Newcomer schools vary, but the purpose is to provide intensive, short-term instruction for newly-arrived students, said Diep Nguyen, president and CEO of the Center for Applied Linguistics<\/a>, who has worked with newcomer centers and researched multilingual learners. These programs fill in gaps in education and prepare students for a traditional school, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When students arrive at INA, Barton said, \u201cthey’re figuring out where one word ends and the next word begins.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt just sounds like noise,\u201d she said. \u201cSomebody has to be there to make sense of that noise.\u201d<\/p>\n Barton remembers the first day at INA, back when the school was housed in a vacant elementary school the district rushed to renovate over the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of these labors of love,\u201d Barton said. \u201cWhen the doors opened, they came, and they came, and they came.\u201d<\/p>\n P.E. teacher John Sohel hugs a student following the last day of school at International Newcomer Academy in Fort Worth on May 21, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The enrollment numbers fluctuate based on the country\u2019s immigration patterns and policies. In the most recent school year, 232 students attended INA, and almost all were considered economically disadvantaged, according to state data. Other years, there were close to 600.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Newcomer schools have popped up in Dallas, New York, Houston and San Francisco, where one campus served as the inspiration for Fort Worth\u2019s. Even in San Francisco, which is considered the pioneer in this model, newcomer programs have faced cuts and closures<\/a>, according to Mission Local, <\/a>a San Francisco news outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do newcomer schools promote segregation or social belonging?\u00a0<\/p>\n This debate \u2014 whether the newcomer model promotes segregation or social belonging \u2014 is one Fort Worth ISD has wrestled with before.<\/p>\n In 1996, the district and federal government clashed over\u00a0INA\u2019s future, after the U.S. Office for Civil Rights flagged concerns during a routine review of Fort Worth schools. Investigators raised issue with \u201cthe isolation of the limited-English proficient students,\u201d according to a clipping from The Dallas Morning News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back then, Ramon Magallanes, the district\u2019s director of bilingual education and English as a Second Language programs, said: \u201cOur contention is we\u2019re separating students based on language need. We have an educational reason for bringing these students together for a limited period of time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Students \u201cfeel that they belong, and they actively participate,\u201d added Assistant Principal Rosie Salinas.\u00a0<\/p>\n To assuage the government, INA adjusted. The school filed annual reports to the office, outlining efforts to increase student social belonging, Barton said. That included establishing clubs, going on field trips and hosting park clean-ups.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arguments on both sides resonate, three decades later.\u00a0<\/p>\n Licata, who was appointed superintendent after the state took over Fort Worth ISD, wants to turn around a \u201cbloated\u201d district \u2014 one he says is built for 85,000 to 90,000 students, but serves 67,500.\u00a0<\/p>\n The district, which has faced declining enrollment and moved to close schools, needs to evaluate which models are working, he said during the April 28 school board meeting. Licata believes the newcomer one isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot support any model that is outdated, produces limited success and, most importantly, segregates students based on their language,\u201d Licata said then. \u201cWe are preventing many students from comprehensive campus electives and creating an inequality and almost a civil rights issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata shows the impact of a marathon meeting nearing its fifth hour as one of nearly 200 residents signed up to speak voices his concerns pertaining to proposed changes within the district\u00a0on April 28 2026.<\/p>\n Steve Hamm\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n At a newcomer school, supporters say, students belong to a smaller community and interact with peers who share similar struggles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the absence of this model, newcomer students might be around English-speaking students, but socializing isn\u2019t guaranteed, Nguyen said. Instead, such an environment could intensify feelings of intimidation.\u00a0<\/p>\n She pushed back on the criticisms of segregation. Giving every student \u201cthe same textbook education\u201d isn\u2019t an \u201cequitable education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Licata questions whether students are receiving a quality education. In the 2024-25 school year, the school was ranked a D, and for two years before, it received an F.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy doing the same thing that has been done for years that has led us to subpar results \u2026 it would not be fair to our students,” Licata said in April. \u201cWe owe them more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the 1990s, research was inconclusive on whether this model worked, The Dallas Morning News reported then. Fast forward to the present day, newcomer schools remain understudied.<\/p>\n Regardless, experts say the model should not be evaluated based on criteria for general schools. While alternative standards were used to rate the school, TEA\u2019s campus rating still factors in performance on the STAAR exam.\u00a0<\/p>\n To measure success, newcomer schools can consider other methods of assessments, such as portfolios and teacher observations, said Magdalena Pando, associate professor of bilingual education at Southern Methodist University.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen looked at in depth, [it] can really tell you a lot about the student’s progress, more than a multiple-choice item test could do,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas ISD<\/a> said it\u2019s seen success \u2014 with a different approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2022, the district started a newcomer academy at Thomas Jefferson High School, which has historically served a high population of newly-arrived students. Rather than a standalone campus, Dallas ISD established a \u201cschool within a school,\u201d meaning newcomers receive specialized instructional support, while being among other students.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thomas Jefferson High School<\/a> was rated a \u2018B\u2019 in state accountability rankings, which reflects the program\u2019s success, said a Dallas ISD spokesperson. Last school year, of 1,495 students, 115 enrolled in the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s another example of DISD doing things that work, that benefit specific kids, which in turn, benefits all kids, and a few years later, benefits our workforce,\u201d said Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, who helped announce the academy\u2019s launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Fort Worth ISD, community members proposed merging INA with an existing school. District officials did not respond to questions about whether the board considered it.\u00a0<\/p>\n INA turned a diverse student body into \u2018a family\u2019<\/p>\n Teachers and students, past and present, will tell you: INA was a place where familiarity took root in an unfamiliar country. A place promising refugees and immigrants that they, too, could reach upwards and feel the American Dream within their grasp.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese kids are nurses, engineers, lawyers, doctors,\u201d said Faiha Al-Atrash, the school\u2019s community and parents coordinator. \u201cThey come with huge dreams, and all we do is pave the road a little bit for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n About 17 years ago, Al-Atrash was asked to assist the influx of Arabic-speaking students who arrived at the school. The former diplomat walked into the classroom and saw the crowd of faces peering up at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n Upon seeing a face that looked like theirs, the students became gripped by excitement. They shouted questions at her: \u2018Where are you from? What is your name?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201c[It was] like a bird was in a cage,\u201d Al-Atrash said. \u201cYou open the cage for them, and they were able to speak to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a story, she said, that still brings her to tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dorcas Bisisi, a former INA student, fled war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you cross an ocean, you have no sense or understanding where you\u2019re going, what life is going to be over there,\u201d Bisisi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n And when she did cross that ocean, landing in Fort Worth in 2015, she found a place where \u201cno one judged how we sound; no one made us feel less of a person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a bunch of young students who came from different countries, trying to adapt and navigate the U.S,\u201d said Bisisi, who graduated from the University of North Texas in 2024. She\u2019s still in touch with her peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fort Worth\u2019s newcomer students face uncertainty ahead<\/p>\n Questions are circulating about how current and future newcomer students will be served.\u00a0<\/p>\n In neighborhood schools, INA students will attend general classes, such as math, science and social studies, according to\u00a0the Fort Worth ISD website<\/a>. They will receive ESL services \u201cdelivered directly,\u201d learning content and English at the same time. Classes with the sole purpose of helping newcomers learn English were eliminated for the upcoming school year, according to a copy of a district memo obtained by The News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teachers will follow lessons developed by ESL experts, have materials in multiple languages and receive coaching, according to the website. Campuses with higher numbers of newcomers will be provided more staff and support.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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