On any given day, you can hear 80 different languages spoken at Milwaukee Public Schools. Some of them are from refugee students.
One school in the district, Zablocki Elementary School, is considered the most diverse and now has a grant to help communicate with those families.
One of those families spoke through an interpreter on how they came to leave Myanmar. Mohamad Kurban Ali said he escaped when he was 18 years old.
He was working in a store when some people, who didn't like that he was a Rohingya Muslim came in and destroyed it. He was taken to jail.
"They broke the store and then government people come and take me into the court," said Kurban Ali.
Scared he would be beaten or killed, he fled to Malaysia and met his wife. She escaped the country earlier when her family was targeted.
"They do whatever they want," said Kurban Ali speaking about the government.
The couple and their three sons ended up in a United Nations Refugee camp. Their boys only going to school once a week for three hours.
Nearly six years ago, the UN called to say the family was going to America, specifically Milwaukee. Their twin sons found out they would start first grade at Zablocki Elementary.
"I didn't speak English so I was so nervous," said Abubakar Mohamad Ismail who is now in 5th grade.
At first, they were the only Rohingya family at school. The mass genocide of the Rohingya Muslims has pushed that number to now 16 families.
In just a few years, Zablocki went from having a handful of families to refugee students from eight countries including Afghanistan, Thailand, Morocco, Mexico, Malaysia, Somalia, Vietnam and of course, Myanmar (also known as Burma). The students speak 13 languages.
"Our students are successful in all areas just of the diversity they get to experience," said Chris Garza, the principal at Zablocki Elementary.
Parents say the school feels a little bit like a United Nations and they like it.
"You see a whole lot of diversity and it's really good for our culture and for the next generation coming up forward," said Savino Cruz who is a dad of two students.
There are 80 different languages spoken in Milwaukee Public School. Nearly 4 percent of students are refugees.
Zablocki got a grant to help them communicate better with those families. Something Kurban Ali and his family appreciates as their kids have big dreams for their new country.
The oldest twins say they love math and science and already know what they want to be when they grow up.
"Engineer," said Abubakar Mohamad Ismail.
"An engineer," said his twin brother Sidiq Mohamad Ismail
"Right now we feel happy, better than before," said their mother Anjuma Shukor.
