Just two months after Carlos Silva Gomez and his mother arrived in the United States from Guatemala, the new life they were creating was turned upside down.
With just a few days notice, 11-year-old Carlos school, Columbus Global Academy, a place for students who are learning English, was ordered to close in March 2020 due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. All of his classes moved online.
The North Linden home where he and his mother live with an aunt, uncle and cousins became his classroom.
But Gomez, a sixth-grader, quickly fell behind, his mother, Nora Elizabeth Gomez Godínez, 35, recently recalled through a Spanish-speaking interpreter. Blocked by a language barrier, the family couldn t figure out how to access his classes or get help. And they were frustrated.