In 2006 Cuban native Jacqueline Castro-Lopez and her husband decided to come to the U.S. in search of a better life for their kids: a two-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. Jacqueline said, “I wanted my kids to be more free.”
When Jacqueline first arrived and enrolled her daughter in school, she struggled to understand the teachers. In fact because of language and cultural barriers, she called her first visit to her daughter’s school disastrous. At the recommendation of her mother, Jacqueline enrolled in the Carlos Rosario School family literacy program (ESL for Families). The program is designed to help parents learn about their children’s schools and the U.S. educational system, and to provide parents with the tools to become more effective advocates for their children and for themselves. Of the class Jacqueline said, “Carlos Rosario helped me to help my children 100%.”
After the family literacy classes, Jacqueline enrolled in English as a Second Language classes at the School. She said these contextualized classes taught her essential U.S. cultural norms, such as how to successfully interview for a job. In fact, years later after leaving the School, Jacqueline remembered going back to lessons learned at the Carlos Rosario School to prepare for an upcoming job interview.
In January 2013 Jacqueline and her husband opened a Cuban style cafe in Washington, DC. Jacqueline hopes that the new business venture will make enough money to be able to travel with her kids and to save for their college educations. Her daughter, now 13 years old, wants to be a lawyer when she grows up and her son, an interior designer. Jacqueline hopes her kids will finish school and be happy. And thanks in part to the support she received from the Carlos Rosario School they are well on their way.