New Revere parent info center juggles 35 languages, new students

REVERE – Djamilia Taiebbenabbas took a break Monday from working in the public schools’ new parent information center to proudly point out how Revere has become a mecca for North Africans.Families from Morocco, her native Algeria, Tunisia, as well as other Mediterranean countries are joining Arabic-speaking immigrants who moved to the city and opened markets and other stores.Tough economic times and deteriorating schools are prompting the moves, but School Superintendent Paul Dakin has another explanation.”Communities like Revere are gateways for immigrants.”Taiebbenabbas helps Arabic-speaking parents enroll their children in English as a second language class and helps them interpret documents required to enroll in local schools.She is one of a half dozen employees in the school system’s new parent information center who also register new students and handle immunization and transportation needs.These services are centralized for the first time this year in the Beachmont School after years of being one of the tasks school principals and their secretaries were required to handle.Dakin said establishing a parent information center allows principals to concentrate on other responsibilities and helps the School Department handle an increase in the number of students speaking English as a second language.There were 410 ESL students in local schools in 2001 compared to 633 enrolled this year.”I’d say we have 35 languages spoken in the district,” said Information Center Director Albert Mogavero.In addition to housing the information center in a former arts and music room, Beachmont is hosting two elementary schools – the one that bears its name and the Paul Revere School.Four hundred Paul Revere students are attending classes in space used last year by middle school students who started attending the new Rumney Marsh Academy in August.Workers are removing asbestos from Paul Revere and Dakin said the school demolition contract will be awarded late next month or in early November.Construction on the new $18.5 million school starts in the winter.