Balch School Welcomes First Full-Time Bilingual Teacher for Growing Portuguese Student Community-October 24, 1975

Portuguese Immigration Transforms South Norwood and the Balch School

South Norwood has long served as Norwood’s traditional melting point, welcoming successive waves of new immigrants who settled among its familiar triple-decker houses and tidy gardens. The community’s most recent newcomers are the Portuguese, whose expanding presence is visibly reshaping the student body at the Balch School, which now counts 23 Portuguese children among its pupils.

In response to this demographic shift and persistent advocacy from Portuguese families, the school department hired its first full-time bilingual teacher this year, Mrs. Diane Lawrence Callahan. The successful initiative was spearheaded by Manuel DaCosta, who thoroughly researched state education mandates. Under Massachusetts law, school districts are required to hire a full-time bilingual teacher once a minority population reaches 20 children whose limited English proficiency hinders their education.

After consulting with state Department of Education officials and seeking guidance from the Cambridge school system, DaCosta and fellow parents pressed school administrators for the staffing addition. Though he currently has no children enrolled at the Balch School, DaCosta serves as president of the Parents Advisory Council, an official organization established by parents to collaborate with school leadership.

Bilingual Education, Cultural Preservation, and the Norwood Portuguese Club

Mrs. Callahan’s students span kindergarten through an eighth grader who travels from Junior High South for specialized instruction. “They are all ages and all ability levels,” Callahan noted. “Some are non-English speaking while some have limited English.” The program provides foundational instruction in Portuguese while teaching English as a second language, with the ultimate goal of full classroom integration within three years, according to Pupil Personnel Services Director Rod Smith.

While eager for their children to assimilate, parents remain deeply committed to preserving their cultural heritage. Mrs. Callahan shared an anecdote about a mother who worried when her first grader learned English so quickly that communication at home began to falter. DaCosta added that some parents have even requested formal school-based Portuguese classes so American-born children maintain fluency in case families eventually return to Portugal.

To foster community ties, local men founded the Norwood Portuguese Club three years ago as an outgrowth of a local soccer team. Operating out of a storefront on Washington Street with roughly 50 members, the club serves primarily as a social hub—playing cards, watching television, screening Portuguese films, and acting as a vital communication center for school meetings.

Broadening Multilingual Support Across Norwood Schools

Mrs. Callahan, who grew up in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and did not speak English until age 10, understands her students’ initial shyness and self-consciousness firsthand. “They speak out in my class. They’re all in the same boat,” she observed. She expressed hope that Portuguese might eventually be offered as a formal foreign language alongside French, German, and Spanish at Norwood High School.

Beyond the Balch School, the district also employs bilingual tutor Mrs. Rose Peckham, who travels across eight schools to support Italian, Greek, Spanish, and Vietnamese students. Peckham noted that a growing Italian community may soon warrant its own dedicated full-time instructor. Balch Principal Andrew Ciarletta warmly embraces the school’s diverse cultural fabric, reflecting, “After all, I grew up in the three-deckers myself.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger