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Refugee families face unique struggles with online school

Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Virus Outbreak Refugee School
Posted at 1:53 PM, Sep 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-05 16:53:37-04

PHOENIX (AP) — Staying connected during the coronavirus pandemic has been trying for parents and students at a Phoenix school for refugees who speak more than a dozen languages.

A teaching assistant got creative by creating group chats on a messaging app in Swahili and some of the other six languages he knows.

The struggles connecting with refugee families from 18 countries during the pandemic come amid a larger challenge for Valencia Newcomer School.

The student body shrank after the Trump administration set a historically low annual cap of 18,000 to be resettled nationwide.

What Valencia will look like in the future partly depends on the November election.