Revere school expands access to immigrants, refugees

A Revere community education program will be able to expand access to its services for immigrants and refugees as a result of a recent grant.

Revere Community School was awarded a $16,624 grant from the Foundation Trust, a private group that supports the work of nonprofits serving under-resourced populations in Greater Boston.

A city-funded program under the Revere Parks and Recreation Department and housed at Revere High School, the Revere Community School provides courses that annually help more than 600 adults and youth learn new languages, job skills, and financial literacy, and to engage in civic participation.

The new grant will enable the school to provide scholarships to help 80 individuals take its English as a Second Language courses over a two-year period. Officials said the scholarship will help reduce the number of people who are unable to enroll or remain in the program because they can’t afford it. The cost of the classes is $100 for Revere residents, $125 for non-residents.

The funding also will help 80 low-income people and seniors with the cost of purchasing a Chromebook after completing 15 hours of free computer training.

The computer classes are provided through separate funding from Tech Goes Home, a Boston-based nonprofit.

Additionally, the Foundation Trust grant will allow the Community School to provide free citizenship classes for 60 individuals.

“This grant will help us support more individuals to learn English, build job skills, and become engaged in the community,” Fatou Drammeh, coordinator of the Revere Community School, said. “It is very important to have different services for immigrants that address their varied needs.”

For more information on the school, visit sites.google.com/rpsk12.org/revere-community-school .