The International Newcomer Academy
The International Newcomer Academy (INA) was created by the Fort Worth Independent School District in 1993 to offer specialized academic instructional programs and socio-emotional support services for middle-school and high-school newcomers and their families.
Relocated to its own stand-alone site in 2021, INA was reoriented to providing services to middle school students and 9th graders. Children 16 years old and older now attend Success High School. Newcomers generally attend INA for one year prior to transitioning into their neighborhood schools.
Success High School
Success High School has a Language Center Program in which students aged 16-21 transition from the INA. With the approval of the principal, other students are considered for placement in the program after completing the assessment and referral process through the Student Placement Center.
Both INA and Success are staffed with highly qualified teachers and aides who work with newcomers to foster English language development, develop content knowledge in core areas, and orient students to American culture and Texas public schools.
Your Gifts at Work
Featured Alumni
Marc
My name is Marc and I am from Gabon, a small country, located in Central Africa. My life has been an amazing journey full of adventures in the unknown. One of the greatest adventures of my life was the time I immigrates to the U.S. in the summer of 2018. What this new life will lead me to? maybe a great success, or a great failure. The answer to that question came back to me, it was for me to decide. Michael Jordan once said, “some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen” and my new mindset was to make it happen. Of course, my journey will be full of worries and incertitude at times, but I won’t be alone in this, along the way I was mentored, taught, advised, educated, and encouraged by amazing people who are a big part of my achievement and the person that I am today.
Moving to a new place has never been something I always liked, but at some point, I must adapt and cope with it. Imagine moving your natal land and traveling for more than 20 hours, about 7,100 miles, by plane to a new, and unknown land. This was my case when I first immigrated to the U.S. where I was about to start a new life. I arrived in the U.S. with almost zero knowledge of the local language and culture. This was going to be a big problem to overcome. I’ve been for seventeen years of my life speaking French and wasn’t willing to learn some new language back in my country, but this was about to change now that I was establishing a new life in the U.S. As a teen, my parent wanted me to pursue my education, but the only problem was that how can I do something like that if I do not even understand the language? My uncle tried to enroll me in the school just across the street from the apartment we were living, O.D. Wyatt H.S. but I was rejected due to my lack of English. We were re-oriented to the FWISD placement center, where I got tested to evaluate my English status I believe; once again the test went so wrong, I was only able to answer the question “what is your name?” I was hopeless at this point, then it was the moment of truth. I believe that I fail the test but miraculously got accepted. I started believing in miracles at this point, I was going to start school at I.N.A. (International Newcomer Academy). The first day at a new school can be scary and nerves wrecking, especially when you do not speak the local language. But there was something different about my new school, I.N.A., I was surrounded by people just like me, who did not fluently speak English just like me. We were from different cultures, backgrounds, and countries, but we were somehow all the same. The environment was just perfect for me to learn, without feeling ignorant or fearing being made fun of for what I do not know. I got to meet people from different countries, speaking different languages but we were all the same.
I.N.A. was just the perfect place for people like me to learn in order to fit in their new environment. Although we had a great diversity of students, we were also privileged to have so many amazing teachers and staff members. Those people were so passionate and patient about what they were doing, educating immigrants like me. Imagine trying to teach History, Mathematics, Science, you name it, to students speaking a completely different language but at the end make them understand. That is near to what I call a miracle. Teachers in I.N.A. were dedicated to their job and patient with their students. I can recall moments in my reading class with my amazing teacher, I was told to read books I borrowed from the school library, and I would stop after every four or five words to question my teacher about the meaning of some words. Believe me, she was not tired at all to help me out. She will patiently and kindly try to make me understand whatever I was reading. It was the same with my other classes. Little by little, a little becomes a lot, I was gradually learning a new language, a new culture, a new way of seeing life. My early worries were now long-forgotten memories. I was only looking forward. After one year in I.N.A. I would soon transfer to a high school. I received a lot of encouragement and advice from the people in I.N.A. to never give up and keep chasing my dreams while empowered with a lot of knowledge to help me along my journey.
Thanks to those amazing people I met along the way in my journey, I graduated from a U.S. high school called Success High School as the valedictorian of the class of 2021, and I pursued my college education. I’m now a freshman soon to be sophomore majoring in Computer Information System with a minor in Cybersecurity. None of these achievements would have been possible without the help of numerous people who reached out to me, who gave me a chance, who cared about their students, and who helped and encouraged us to always move forward. I’m thankful to International Newcomers Academy, which empowered me with the basic knowledge for a journey to success, and many other organizations and people who helped me and people like me to make their dreams come true.
Mariam
I came to United States as an immigrant since my father was working with the USA army as an Arabic-English interpreter for over seven years. I am originally from Iraq, and now I am a U.S. citizen. I have lived in Baghdad, Iraq for 16 years. I unfortunately had to face the war zone barriers among others. I have lived in a terrified environment due to my uncle has killed, auntie died, best friend has tortured, rockets exploded by my house & in my school, list goes on. I continued my school until 12th grade - senior year, then, my father has decided to bring us to United States. United States has opened many opportunities to its nations.
How I personally describe INA? We often ask what home means to you. We all know what it is home to us as home sweet home, how we feel comfortable at home, how we feel this home is where we belong to, because usually most of the people would have the same ideas and perspectives. INA is a home to refugees, INA is a home to immigrants, and INA is a home for those whom did not find a secure home in their actual homes overseas. May I continue share my tremendously stories at INA? I came to INA with 0 English, without INA teachers, I am nothing by now. INA is where I met the most loving, caring, beautiful, responsible, respected family. INA helped me succeed by teaching me how to write, speak and read English. INA does help millions of families by their amazing coordinator, Mrs. Faiha Al-Atrash for paying rent, bills, groceries and even medical bills which is amazing humanity. My words would not describe how thankful I is to be part of my INA family; I cannot be more honored to speak about INA. I love my INA Administrators, teachers, and all the staff.
Kevin
I was born in El Salvador. In 2014 my country was going through the biggest waves of violence in history, due to the gangs. So many young people decided to leave our country to try to find a new home in the United States. I was 16 years old when my family decided to send me out of the country. Alone with a group of 12 people, I had to cross Guatemala and Mexico. It took me 25 days to get to the United States, specifically Fort Worth Texas, where I currently live.
For me as a young person one of my biggest concerns was not knowing English. I was lucky that FWISD (Fort Worth Independent School District) sent me to the International Newcomer Academy (INA) and that was the best school for me to start my education and my America’s life journey. INA was the best place for a young international student who just arrived in the United States. At the end of 2009 my older brother Edgar Ortiz Martinez also came to the United States as well and he also attended INA.
INA facilitated the education process for me to learn the language plus all other contents as well as Ameera’s culture. I learned so much about cultures that were totally unknown to me. I have many beautiful memories at INA school and made so many friends from many countries of the world. I had a great time going with my international friends (INA diverse culture) on field trips to museums such as the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, among others. In addition, I learned so much from the outstanding and highly trained teachers and staff, who go above and beyond their duties to make sure that students reach their goals.
After one year at INA, I was sent to Success High School where the academic level is higher, but thanks to everything I had learned in the previous year at INA, everything was easier for me. I was able to graduate with a fairly high level of English and adapt to my new life in this beautiful country. After high school and thanks to my level of English I found a job with Llebroc Industries. Four months later I became supervisor of one of the departments, a position that I had for more than four years. I am currently HVAC technicians and I work for maintenance companies of residential AC units.
School like INA should be supported and implemented by all school districts in the United States. It is the foundation for international students who are seeking a new life in this wonderful country. Had I not started my journey at INA, I do not know where else I would be. INA is fundamental for students like me landing in a country not knowing the language, culture, what to do or where to go!
Laurent
Through my life journeys, I've discovered that a good start is essential to a better life. Specifically, a good start lays the path to a foundation for making life easier and more successful for the individual and the collective. International Newcomer Academy (INA) became my solid foundation. As a student at INA, I learned so much, especially how to navigate various systems in the United States that provided tools to become successful. Although my start was far from ideal, I was born to two refugee parents in Tanzania, who chose to name me Laurent. Seeking a better life, my family decided to migrate to Malawi. However, life never got easier there. Forced to immigrate to Zimbabwe, I grew accustomed to moving around and having to start a new life repeatedly. It was a lonely experience as I had to leave my family and friends with each move.
I was filled with joy when I learned that we were selected to come to the United States of America. However, in 2012 when we arrived, we found that our lives would start over in an inner-city community with the worst crime in the county. My joy quickly diminished to be filled with sadness. I felt like a nomad until my time at INA. INA helped soften the cultural shock that I experienced. I developed the connections I was seeking, peers who became like brothers and sisters who didn't make fun of my looks or speaking abilities. A community of like-minded individuals who understood the importance of our opportunities. Teachers at INA valued education as a gateway and instilled a firm foundation that provided a good start. Daily I saw a collective dedication and massive effort in students at INA that inspired me to grow into a better person and student.
My hunger to achieve fueled a successful work ethic at each learning institution. Reflecting with fondness, I can see how I learned to walk at INA, which turned into jogging while at William James Middle School, and I learned how to run at Dunbar High School. Now coming to the end of my first marathon, I am almost at the finish line of an undergraduate degree at Texas Christian University after accessing the strategies and tools of support of various resources initially learned at INA, including a full scholarship. I recognize INA helped ease my journey to college by offering me an additional scholarship to ensure I had all I needed to succeed. I have achieved success for my family, community, as an INA and INA A Better Future Scholarship alumnus.
Yeremia
My family and I are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but grew up in Malawi Refugee Camp. We relocated to the United States in Fort Worth, Texas through the immigration process with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration, or resettlement to a third country.
As immigrants to the U.S, my family had no car, bike, or any sort of transportation. Life was tough and difficult to a point that we walked long distances to go to the store, school, church, and any other place. Sometimes we pay to ride bikes to make life much better than walking long distances. Few months later, I had a privilege to start school at International Newcomer Academy (INA) as a bilingual student who had a little knowledge in speaking English language. International Newcomer Academy built me a strong foundation that will never demolish. I will always appreciate the work and effort contributed to my education. It is where I learned a lot of things, such as how to be kind and honest, friendly, sharing and valuing my life as it is. Not only, I have been also able to learn more about leadership, networking, problem solving and entertainment. Sometimes I was bullied with new classmates and hated because of my talent, passion and color but have never lost my task fulfillment. I was a poorly healthy child in my school period, even though I had always got the missed material and was a quick learner. The teachers praised me and encouraged my affection for knowledge. I felt proud of who I am.
After 6 months, I was transferred to Success Hight School. My classes were divided into two groups. We had to adjust to other classes as newcomers. We had many teachers in different subjects, many new friends, and acquaintances. However, that was the perfect time that I first was evaluated from all sides. Every teacher wanted me to represent their subject in academic competition. I was chosen to represent my school in various subjects, but I was most successful in Social Studies and English. These subjects influenced my life because I knew a little bit of English when I arrived in the U.S and strongly improved. I participated in different academic conferences and studied a lot. What I lacked at that time was confidence and assertiveness. I started to cultivate my abilities. I started additional lessons and attended tutors and joined the Debate Club to get better.
Eventually, I tried new roles and strived to do my best. My first performance was at the beginning of high school. My role was very important. The Debate Club group helped me to get rid of old habits and develop creativity and confidence. I learned long lines and that improved my memory and helped my learning in my school year till I was transferred to Success High School to complete my two years of high diploma. Due to my focus, I passed all the exams such as STAR Tests and other school exams. My parents, relatives and friends were very proud of me. My graduation year of high school took place on May 31st, 2019. I am super excited that I joined Jarvis Christian College to make my dreams come true. This has been a very important experience that guides me into a new adult life.
My determination, commitment, and motivation shaped my reality and who I am today. The very important aspects that play a major role in my life can be categorized as intellectual, social, and spiritual. My intellectual self is interesting because I am mainly dedicated, which means that I tend to be more creative and develop new skills every day as a visual learner. My social self consists of friends, family, and my surroundings. My spiritual self is the time I spent mostly at home with my family and church. Whenever I am with my friends, I observe their behaviors and listen to their opinions. I am more of an independent type of person. Being with different people has influenced me into appreciating different cultures and beliefs. I have learned things that have now been incorporated into my own set of beliefs. I am ready to gain new knowledge and enroll in my interesting careers.