St. Louis Public Schools is preparing to close Nahed Chapman New American Academy’s K–5 campus, the district’s stand-alone elementary program for newly arrived immigrant and refugee children, at the end of the academic year, according to multiple staff members. Teachers and advocates say they have been given few specifics about where students or staff will land next, leaving families and classroom teams scrambling for answers. The closure would wipe out one of the city’s few elementary-level newcomer sites and could send children into schools that do not offer the program’s intensive English-language and trauma-informed supports.
As reported by the St. Louis Post‑Dispatch, district employees say administrators told them this week that the K–5 campus will close when the school year ends and that reassignment plans for students and staff are not yet finalized. The Post‑Dispatch attributed that information to multiple people who work inside the program.
What teachers and staff say
In earlier coverage by St. Louis Public Radio, Nahed Chapman teachers pushed back when district leaders floated cutting the newcomer model from two years down to one, arguing the structure is tailored to students’ complex needs. Music teacher Rick Tritten told the school board that “ESOL students have an incredibly diverse range of needs to be met to ensure academic success,” and staff delivered a petition with more than 600 signatures urging officials to slow any changes to the program…