Mahopac Welcomes Families From Around The World

From the Mahopac school district

Families of students in Mahopac’s English as a New Language Department came out to the ENL Parent Night on Thursday, March 10 to learn about all the community has to offer.

“It’s a great way for our ENL parents and families to feel that they are part of our Mahopac community,” said Leigh Galione, the district’s ENL Chairperson. “It is a way for ENL families to learn about the programs that are available in our schools and our community. It’s a big help for the community programs that come, too, because it gives them an opportunity to do outreach.”

The community groups that set up booths at the event, which was held at the Falls School, included Putnam Community Action Partnership, Open Door Family Medical Centers, Catholic Charities S.N.A.P., Neighbor's Link and the Mahopac Public Library.

Tom Vasquez, a Senior Network Technician in Mahopac schools’ Technology Support Department was on hand to help translate important information about the Parent Portal, Chromebooks and more. Mahopac School District administrators, including Superintendent of Schools Anthony DiCarlo, and all 11 teachers in the district’s ENL Department turned out to greet the parents and students.

While the majority of the 181 students in Mahopac’s ENL classes speak Spanish as their first language, 11 different languages – from Albanian to Ukrainian – are spoken by the students in the district’s ENL classes. Mahopac has more than 3,800 students districtwide.

“This is an annual event that gets better every year,” Galione said. “We missed two years because of the pandemic, but we were so glad to be able to host it in person this year.”