The Community, School Context, and Students

Morning begins at Storm and Bonham Elementary schools as in thousands of schools throughout the country. Some children are dropped off by parents in cars, some come by bus, but most walk with older siblings or family members. The children in their uniforms-white shirts or blouses and khaki pants or skirts-hurry to say goodbye to parents, abuelos (grandparents), and siblings as they greet friends and classmates chattering in English, Spanish, and code switching between the two languages. A child is heard saying to a grandmother, “vienes por mí (come for me) at three,” another to a younger sister “after school me esperas aquí (wait for me here).” Faces of White and African American children are few; most of the children are Hispanic-Mexican American or Mexicano as their parents would self-identify. Teachers, standing by the doors to the classrooms, greet the children by name, some speaking English, some Spanish, and some code switching between the two languages. At first glance, it is difficult to distinguish which students are two-way bilingual immersion, developmental bilingual, special education, or “regular” students, as White, African American, and Hispanic teachers call out greetings and directives, such as “buenos días (good morning), it’s a beautiful day,” “qué te pasa (what’s the matter), why the long face,” “ándale-pronto (hurry), find your seat.” The number of White and African American teachers’ faces appears to be more than those of the children, but the type of classes that they teach-two-way bilingual immersion, developmental bilingual, special

education, “regular”—is also hard to identify. Most of the teachers are interacting with the children bilingually. A closer look at these teachers reveals that the majority are also Hispanic-Mexican American as they predominantly self-identify. As the children and teachers move from the hybrid spaces of the sidewalks and hallways into their assigned classrooms, the mixing of codes and use of the community vernacular gives way to “school language” in either English or Spanish.