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Migrant Education

Hispanic student with teacher

The Migrant Education Program (MEP) identifies eligible migrant students and their families to provide essential resources and services to support migrant students’ educational success. The goal of MEP is to ensure that all migrant students reach challenging academic standards and graduate with a high school diploma that prepares them for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment. 

The Migrant Education Program is a federally funded, state operated program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), that provides supplemental program services to the children, ages 3 through 21, of migratory fishermen or migratory seasonal or temporary agricultural workers. Fishing work (catching or initial processing of fish or shellfish or the rising or harvesting of fish or shellfish at fish farms) performing the job for wages of personal subsistence. Agricultural work (processing of crops, dairy products, poultry or livestock, meat packing companies as well as the cultivation or harvesting of trees in nurseries). 

In Arizona, the program delivers services primarily through local educational agencies (LEAs) that design programs to meet the unserved needs of children residing in their area. The Marana school district is the only educational entity that seeks, identifies and determines the eligibility of migrant students in Tucson and surrounding areas. 

To facilitate broader services, some provisions are delivered through statewide models which, in particular, are designed to meet the credit accrual and informational needs for students.

Migrant Education Strategies for Learning

  • Home visits
  • After-school tutoring
  • Summer school
  • At-home academic support for preschoolers
  • Interpreting for migrant parents
  • Parent meetings

Additional Services

  • Clothing
  • School supplies
  • Vision, hearing and dental
  • Free school lunch program 

Do You Qualify for Migrant Services?

  • Is your work fishing or in agriculture?
  • Is your work temporary or seasonal?
  • Have you and your family moved within the last three years due to your fishing job or agriculture work?
  • Was the move due to a job search?
  • Are you or your children under 22 years of age and do not have a high school diploma or GED?

If you answer YES to all of these questions, you or your family may be eligible for supplemental educational services under the Migrant Education Program. 

More Info

Please contact:

Migrant Specialist

Nohemi Vera

Student & Family Support Services

(520) 616-3013 

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