Refugee & Immigrant Services

Refugee Family Support Office

The Austin ISD Refugee Family Support Office serves as a language and resource hub for refugee and asylee students and their families enrolled in Austin ISD.

Refugees are people forced to flee their home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution, and who arrive in the United States already designated a refugee.

Asylees are immigrants in the U.S. or at a port of entry who are found unable or unwilling to return to their home country of nationality because of a well-founded fear of persecution if they return to that country.

Translation / Interpretation

The Refugee Support Service Team supports more than 18 languages and can facilitate interpretation or translation of the following:

  • Arabic
  • Burmese
  • Farsi
  • Dari
  • French
  • Karen (limited)
  • Karenni (limited)
  • Kirundi
  • Kinyarwanda
  • Kurdish
  • Lingala
  • Nepali
  • Pashto
  • Somali
  • Spanish
  • Swahili
  • Thai
  • Tigrinya
  • Urdu

 

The team provides translation and interpretation for:

  • Parent/Teacher conferences
  • Meetings
  • Day-to-day interpretation services—such as assisting families with understanding school forms—for 90 campuses
  • Facilitate campus events targeting refugee families (e.g., Coffee with the Principal, Back to School Night, Know Your Rights events, etc.)
  • Home visits
  • Emergency language support for families and campuses
  • Removal hearings and orientation at the district's Alternative Learning Center
  • Disciplinary matters

 

Resources for Refugee / Immigrant Families

Please visit our Multilingual Resources page for documents and videos helpful to parents and families.

 

Information about the start of school

For all interpretation and translation requests, please contact the Refugee Family Support Office at 512-414-0545.

You can also contact the office through Let's Talk!

 

Additional Services

  • School registration support
  • Tutoring
  • Special education assistance
  • Social/Emotional support
  • Training for school staff and community agencies

For support and more information, please contact the Austin ISD Refugee Family Support Office at 512-414-0545.