enlarge Photos by Jack Milton/Staff Photographer

From left, Eva Ermlich, Abdinajib Hirsi, Nyalil Dup and Sophia Cumar reach for pencils as they prepare to draw and write in their journals Monday in Kevin Brewster’s kindergarten class at Reiche Community School in Portland, where new immigrant students are arriving every week.

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Education tech Naila Wissa works with Bene Yombe on her journal in kindergarten class Monday at Reiche Community School.

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Teacher Kevin Brewster works with Fahad Haig on his journal writing during kindergarten class. Reiche Community School has had a significant immigrant population for decades.

PORTLAND — The city's public schools have more multilingual students speaking more languages than ever before, and the numbers are expected to rise through the coming months.

The school district has enrolled 1,864 multilingual students so far this year, up 3.8 percent from 1,795 last year, said Grace Valenzuela, director of multilingual services.

The new total includes about 1,600 students who are learning to speak English, up 8.6 percent from 1,474 last year. They have come from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other places.

At least 150 more multilingual students are expected to enroll this year because Catholic Charities Maine plans to bring 300 more refugees to Portland through its resettlement program.

If projections prove true, multilingual students will push Portland's total enrollment well above 7,100 and constitute an estimated 28 percent of Maine's largest school district.

Valenzuela and other school officials are taking the increase in stride, reaching out for help from the immigrant community and trying to foster communication with an ever-growing number of languages.

"It's not something that is new to us," Valenzuela said. "Through the years, Portland has been able to respond well to new arrivals. As the immigrant population grows, the challenge will be to make sure our communication with families is comprehensive and accurate."

Portland's 30-year-old multilingual program is taking on the challenge with a $3.9 million budget this year, about $200,000 less than last year. Most of it is covered by federal grants.

The number of languages other than English that are spoken by Portland's students has increased from 48 last year to 58 this year.

The list of languages often changes from year to year, as new students enroll and others graduate or transfer to other districts. This year, Portland's schools increased their efforts to differentiate languages to improve services and enhance communication among the teaching staff, students and parents.

New languages recognized in Portland schools this year include Kayah (Burma), Nuer (Sudan and Ethiopia), Kirundi (Burundi and Tanzania), Madi (Sudan and Uganda), Farsi (Iran and Afghanistan), Dari (Afghanistan), Azerbaijani, Cantonese, Kusaal (Ghana), Swedish, Fur (Darfur), Indonesian, Punjabi (India) and Sidamo (Ethiopia).

Valenzuela said multilingual enrollment has increased, in part, because Catholic Charities Maine resumed its refugee resettlement program in 2008 after a six-year lull. The recession also may be playing a role, as immigrants and others move to Portland in search of jobs, housing and social services.

Enrollment of multilingual students typically wanes after school starts in September, but Valenzuela's staff registered 44 new multilingual students in October.

That figure includes 20 children of refugees who were brought to Portland by Catholic Charities Maine, the state's only refugee resettlement agency. The other 24 are children of immigrants who moved here from other parts of the United States.

Valenzuela said she anticipates enrolling 10 more multilingual students each month for the rest of the school year. Such steady growth requires constant reassessment of priorities and a fluid response to shifting demands.

"We try to establish a positive relationship with new arrivals to make sure they see the school system as a partner in their children's education," Valenzuela said.

She is addressing growth in specific areas by assigning parent/community outreach specialists to work one day each week with Iraqis, who speak Arabic, and new arrivals from Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo, who speak French, Lingala, Swahili and Kinyarwanda.

In many cases, immigrants who have been here for a while help newcomers make the transition. Some Sudanese residents who speak Arabic are...