Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will open two special facilities this year to serve students and families for whom English is a second language.

A Welcome Center will open on the Lincoln Center site in a mobile unit. The district’s English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) Coordinator and translator will move into this space, along with a secretary and an ESL teacher who will be on loan from one of the schools.

The Welcome Center is intended to enable ESL families and students to make a single stop during the enrollment and placement process. The site will offer packets of information for families about district and community services, as well as screening for placement in various district programs.

The Newcomer Center will open on the campus of Chapel Hill High School. The center is intended to assist secondary students with little or no English experience in making the transition into one of the district’s middle or high schools. Two ESL teachers and two teacher assistants will staff this program.

Both programs are being funded with a federal grant for immigrant programs.