ABSTRACT
Teachers must acquire extensive social learning to understand the children in their classrooms and their families in the school community. To staff a superdiverse urban school, the principal preferentially sought teachers who knew non-official as well as official minority languages. Global reception to refugees who enter school in a new country as survivors of inhumane tragedy, having suffered traumatic losses, journeys of rejection and significant gaps in their schooling is of the utmost importance and relevance. At Joyce Public School, one of the most effective ways we welcomed parents was to create photo display boards celebrating the children and school life. In a community where most parents are non-English speakers, it was important to use photos to document and share children's accomplishments in parent–teacher conferences, and post them on bulletin boards in the school hallways. Many members of learning community had family immigration stories: teachers, graduate students, researchers and consultants.
