The Greater Essex County District School Board is making some changes to its English as a second language program.
The number of students enrolled over the past year, and a bit has jumped to 900. Superintendent of Programs and Professional Learning Clara Howitt says that is almost double previous enrolment.
After speaking with students, their families and members of the community, Howitt says the board decided to tweak the program by offering it in the students' home school.
"Presently, the program has students that are bused to the program," she says. "We're making every effort to do that."
"The big part of it is creating a sense of safety, welcomeness to our families. Many of the families that have come over the last little over a year have come from war-torn countries," says Howitt.
ESL coaches will also be added to the classroom.
She says not all of the students are Syrian migrants, but many share the same challenges.
"The new profile of the students that have come into the district has been that they have had little or no schooling," says Howitt. "So that's a different kind of profile than we've been used to."
She says many of the students coming to school are enrolling in ESL with multiple siblings.