As a mother, Cynthia Sullivan knows what it feels like to want your kids to feel at home at a new school, and to do all the right things to support their academic success.  

As a bilingual teacher at Mahaffey Elementary in Klein ISD, Sullivan is doing everything she can to help newcomer families feel welcome on campus and support their students. As part of her experience in the Holdsworth Campus Leadership Program, Cynthia and her colleagues created a group called HOLA – Helping Others Learn and Achieve.

The group listens to the challenges newcomers face and finds ways to help. They make videos in Spanish to keep parents informed and tutor them on how to use the school’s apps, ask students to share different aspects of their culture – food or traditions – during morning announcements, and teach all the kids songs in different languages to sing while waiting for the buses at dismissal.  

Holdsworth gave Cynthia the tools to think critically, connect with colleagues and create supports that help newcomer students find their footing and succeed in the classroom. Data show that it's working.

At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, only 14 percent of emergent bilingual students met or exceeded grade-level expectations in reading on a district test. By the end of the year, that number grew to 61 percent.