School of Many Nations

By David Ruenzel

It's midday at the Manhattan International School in New York City, and the lunchroom is serving up a thick linguistic stew. Spanish, Chinese, and Polish predominate, but there is also a dash of Arabic, Bengali, and Lithuanian, not to mention, of course, English. In all, there are 18 languages spoken at this unusual school, which opened its doors last September.

Located in Chinatown, on the fourth floor of an elementary school building framed by crowded sidewalks on which vendors peddle fish, vegetables, and Chinese-language newspapers, Manhattan International is a public school of almost staggering diversity. About the only things students here have in common are low scores on English-proficiency tests and four years or less in the United States--these being the two prerequisites for admission. All are here by choice, most having been referred by guidance counselors at other schools.

The 90 9th graders at Manhattan International--another 90 or so will be added in each of the next three years--are immigrants from 22 countries, including Bangladesh, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Haiti. They range in age from 14 to 17 and may take anywhere from three to five years to graduate. Almost a quarter have been in the United States less than six months; more than three-quarters have been here less than two years. All have had to make cultural adjustments, be it something as small as dealing with a religious prohibition on eating pork served in the cafeteria or something as anxiety-provoking as living with parents from whom they've been separated for months or years. While some, like a boy from Bosnia, have come with their families to escape war and political or religious oppression, the majority, like so many immigrants before them, are simply seeking the happiness that attends prosperity. "I thought it would be rich,'' a Polish girl named Angelica says of America. "I thought I'd get a BMW with an open top. Then I come here with my family and have...