Donate to our End-Of-Year Giving Fundraiser!
Help us raise 25k

Alumni and now educators at Brooklyn International High School, NYC

How your funds will help:

1

Ensure that our newcomer immigrant and refugee students, more than 9,350+ multilingual learners from 130 countries, continue to access high-quality and equitable education through the Internationals Approach.

2

Provide expert guidance and resources to our network of 31 schools and academies throughout the country.

3

Enable us to provide 700+ practitioners with 4,000+ annual hours of training, professional development, and access to classroom resources for serving multilingual learners.

On November 5th, the Internationals Network held its annual Professional Development Conference where over 400 educators from across the country participated in teacher-led workshops focused on educating newcomer multilingual learners. We are the nation’s leading education nonprofit that stands with public schools to better serve immigrant and refugee students. Since our inception, we have transformed the lives of close to 50,000 students, and we are committed to continuing to support immigrant youth, their families, and the educators who serve them.

Our Journey

OVER THE YEARS

Transforming Education for Multilingual Learners

The Beginning
1985 - 2003
  • The first Internationals school opens in 1985 in Queens, NYC: International High School at LaGuardia Community College
  • More schools opened in Manhattan and Brooklyn as part of a broader school reform effort with support from the first school.
  • The three schools agree to form a structure to collaborate and learn from each other
  • Another school opens in NYC: Bronx International High School
  • Grant funding was awarded to establish as a nonprofit
The Early Nonprofit Years
2004 - 2009
  • Setup the nonprofit: the start of Internationals Network for Public Schools
  • Established the National Leadership Retreat, NYC Summer Institute, & the NYC PD Committee
  • Expanded within NYC with 6 more school openings
  • Expanded beyond NY with 2 school openings in CA
Expanding Opportunities for Newcomer Adolescents
2010 - 2015
  • Continued growth in NYC with 5 more school openings
  • Launched Deeper Learning Equity Fellowship in partnership with Big Picture Learning
  • Expanded into the DC metro area with 4 school/academy openings in DC, MD and VA
  • Policy Wins: Portfolio waiver and seal of biliteracy, Part 154 (NY State Regs on ELs)
Spreading & Deepening Impact
2016 - 2019
  • Deepened regional structures: Summer Institutes begin outside NYC
  • Expansion through the establishment of more academies in the Bay Area, and the DC Metro area as well as further school openings in NY totaling 5 more schools
Our Latest Developments
2020 - 2025
  • Expansion into LA through 3 academies, the second-largest district in the nation
  • Another academy opens on the East Coast in NJ
  • The organization establishes a new Strategic Plan to build toward the future through continued support and networking for new and existing schools as well as broadening support to non-network schools and expanding our policy work
  • Celebrating and reflecting on 20 years of transforming education for immigrant youth throughout the year 2024
  • ​​Approval and philanthropic funding for two new school openings in 2025: Albuquerque, NM & a 6-12 school in Queens, NY

Join Our Year-Long 20th Anniversary Celebration at Internationals Network!

We are commemorating two decades of dedicated service at Internationals Network. To honor this significant milestone, we invite you to contribute your reflections and well-wishes. Submit a tribute video to be included in our celebratory showcase. Your journey and stories are integral to our collective narrative. Students, teachers, partners, alumni, and advocates — all voices are welcome to mark this year of celebration.

schools + academies

We have 31 schools and academies located across the US serving over 9,500 students within our network. All schools are based on the Internationals Approach, a set of 5 Core Principles that we developed and proved successful through over 35 years of practitioner implementation. Our approach to education addresses the areas of a school’s structure, pedagogy, culture, and governance to effectively serve immigrant and refugee Multilingual Learner (MLL) youth.

Schools & academies

We have 31 schools and academies located across the US serving over 9,500 students within our network. All schools are based on the Internationals Approach, a set of 5 Core Principles that we developed and proved successful through over 35 years of practitioner implementation. Our approach to education addresses the areas of a school’s structure, pedagogy, culture, and governance to effectively serve immigrant and refugee Multilingual Learner (MLL) youth.

our students

Over 9,500 students attending Internationals Network’s schools and academies are newcomers who have been in the country for four years or less at their time of admission. Our students are diverse, coming from over 130 countries, and represent a multitude of racial and ethnic groups, with over 100 native languages spoken in our schools. Although many of our multilingual learners speak two, three, four or more languages, all are new to learning English when they enter Internationals Network schools.

OUR EDUCATORS

Internationals serves and connects over 900 educators in our network of schools and academies through coaching, workshops, and communities of practice. Every year, we provide Internationals teachers, leaders and wellness staff over 5,000 hours of professional development to better serve our immigrant multilingual learner youth.

OUR EDUCATORS

Internationals serves and connects over 1,200 educators in our network of schools and academies through coaching, workshops, and communities of practice. Every year, we provide Internationals teachers, leaders and wellness staff over 5,000 hours of professional development to better serve our immigrant multilingual learner youth.