Schools play a critical role in the lives of all children. Not only are they sites of education, schools are places where children become integrated into communities, receive critical support services, and foster relationships. For asylum-seeking newcomer students, schools play a critical role in helping to integrate children and their families into US society. A newcomer child’s school often becomes the first place in the US to provide them with community, stability, and belonging. As a result, schools are critical places to concentrate resources that facilitate the integration of families seeking asylum into their new communities.

This backgrounder examines current challenges facing newcomer students and makes recommendations to better support schools and communities to strengthen community stabilization and growth through education.