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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Nader Issa

CPS juggles funding, bilingual staff to welcome thousands of new migrant students

ReeShell Parra Fernandez, an incoming student at CPS and a recent migrant arrival from Venezuela, carries her nephew, Jose Mathias Estrada, at their home in Brighton Park. (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

ReeShell Parra Fernandez is a bright 9-year-old. She follows conversations. And without knowing English, she sings American pop songs from memory.

A recent immigrant from Venezuela, she’s also never really been to school. An economic crisis and violence engulfed her native country when she should have started classes. And at this point, she still hasn’t learned to read.

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