ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Roanoke Catholic has teamed up with Notre Dame to train teachers for the Segura Program. It gives Latino families a reduced cost, education and support.
"The teachers, when they see me, they say Evelyn is really good with her English now," said Maria Sanchez who has three children at Roanoke Catholic and is noticing a big difference this year since they transferred.
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My son listens to me now better than when he was in the other school. With the religion they know more than they knew before so it's really good."
"It's different. It helps me a lot more. I've learned how to deal with pressures and deadlines, so it's brought a lot of change but it's a good change," said Maria Rufino, one of the dozens of students part of the program giving Latino families scholarships to attend.
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It's nice because I know there's other Hispanic kids here that are going through the same thing that I'm going through and it helps a lot."
"It really is an opportunity for us to reach out to the Latino population and community and welcome them back into the Catholic faith, back to the Catholic schools that quite honestly have been missing them for generations," said Patrick Patterson, the Roanoke Catholic School principal.
The program launched last year. Patterson says the program has grown from about 50 students this year to more than 70 next year. They hope to have 100 students enrolled in the next three years.
Parents are expected to pay but get a break on the tuition starting at $6,400 per student.
"The Segura program for us has been life-changing for families," said Patterson. "We have a lot of first-generation immigrants to our school. Students are coming in with parents that have limited English skills or abilities and they are looking for, the parents are looking for a faith-based community to help educate their children
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It is paid for through the state tax credit program, individual donors and monthly dinners at local restaurants where proceeds support the Segura Program. The next dinner is Thursday, April 16 at Taaza.