The first-graders sit cross-legged on the floor, eagerly clutching their stories. A dozen Asian, black, white and Hispanic hands shoot up when their teacher asks who would like to share what they wrote.

This is a typical classroom at Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Norcross, where teachers and administrators have expanded programs and changed their teaching styles to accommodate their increasingly diverse populations.

The increase in the international student population is evident throughout Gwinnett County Schools, where about 1 in every 3.7 students speaks a language other than English.

In 1990, Beaver Ridge's students were 80 percent white, 11 percent black, 4 percent Asian and 4 percent Hispanic. Now the school is 10 percent white, 30 percent black, 8 percent Asian and 50 percent Hispanic.

Pam Potter, a kindergarten teacher who has been at Beaver Ridge for seven years and taught for 19, does not distinguish between students based on their proficiency in English. "I don't even think about how I have second-language learners or that they might not do as well. It's not even an issue. We have high expectations of all of our kids."

Whether students speak Mandarin or Portuguese, they are placed together in English for Speakers of Other Languages classrooms.

"In some cases there might be some support in another language, and they might have reference materials, " said Beth Arnow, ESOL coordinator for Gwinnett County Schools. "With as many languages as we have in the system, we don't have the luxury of providing lessons in the native language."

Though being bilingual is a consideration when local schools hire ESOL teachers, it is not a requirement. "It's an asset, " Arnow said. "It makes communication with the family easier, and it gives the teacher a sense of what it is like to be a second-language learner and to understand other cultures."

Fourth-year teacher Tamika Beck came to Beaver Ridge after growing up in Margaret, Ala., which she joked was not very diverse.

As a non-Spanish speaker, her biggest challenge was communicating with immigrant parents. "That was a huge shock to me. When you go through college, you can't wait until that first meeting with your students' parents, " she said. "It's hard when they can't understand you."

Parent resources

Beaver Ridge has several programs to help parents stay active in their children's educations, including a Parent Center. If children are performing below expectations, the center is stocked with educational kits for every grade level to help them practice at home.

Kits include books, exercises and tapes so children can practice reading even if no one at home speaks English.

The Parent Center is also a resource to help immigrants understand the differences between education in the United States and abroad.

"I've lived in three or four countries and I know about education in other countries. It's very different, " said Sandra Mosquera, an instructional support coordinator. "I can communicate with parents that this is the way it is in the U.S."

The last Friday of every month, Beaver Ridge Principal Esther Adames-Jimenez hosts a breakfast with parents. She has two meetings, one in English and one in Spanish. It groups parents by location.

"Building a sense of community, that's my way of bonding with the parents, " said Adames-Jimenez. "Because when people immigrate, the first thing they lose is their support system."

The Gwinnett County school system also has an online language bank available to schools to help send documents to parents who are not fluent English speakers. The database holds more than a thousand documents ranging from health forms to academic curricula, translated into all of the languages spoken by parents. The school system also has hired interpreters to translate for parents. The most common languages are Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Bosnian.

Beck got her ESOL certification after coming to Beaver Ridge, and is having a much easier time communicating with parents and students in recent years.

"I've picked up more Spanish than ever, " she said. "I had two years of Spanish in college. And I took it as an elective in high school.

"But it never registered until I actually had to use it, until there is someone in front of you that has no idea what you're saying in English."

'Cultures are valued'

The biggest change Potter has seen in her years of teaching, after her upbringing in northern California, is the increased emphasis on diversity in schools.

"I think today cultures are valued, " she said. "When I was growing up, I didn't know what people were. You never thought about it. And now we try to show that value. We're bringing that to the forefront."

That change is displayed on a bulletin board in the school lobby: photos and profiles of 25 students, all with backgrounds from different countries. They represent the 40 countries and 18 languages spoken by Beaver Ridge students.

Children's books like "Los Tres Pequenos Jabalies" (Three Little Pigs) and "La Flautista" (The Flute Player) sit on classroom shelves beside "Take Me Out of the Bathtub" and other popular English titles.

Many of the 900 books are bilingual at the school's new Professional Development Center, where teachers can check out books and games for their classes.

Beaver Ridge students also have a two-hour literacy block every morning, when reading and writing are practiced.

"The bottom line is what I tell the children every day: 'If you want to run a marathon, you can't just run two or three steps every day. You have to run a couple of miles every day. If you want to be a reader, you have to read every day, '---" Adames-Jimenez said.

The Beaver Ridge model is similar to that of many schools across the county, according to Gwinnett Public Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach.

"I think our schools are doing a wonderful job in welcoming families, and more importantly in providing students a quality education, " Roach said.

Teachers at Beaver Ridge describe working with children of other cultures as a very rewarding experience.

"The growth I see in kindergarten is just phenomenal, " Potter said.

"They come in oftentimes with no preschool, not knowing English. And they leave reading and writing. It leaves you very energized."