Sitting on their mothers' laps, six small children wait quietly in a second-floor schoolroom on the Upper East Side. One sucks his thumb. Another plays with her belly button.
Class is about to start.
Buenos d as. When Ms. Noguera's tiny students start talking, their first language will be English. But their parents, who don't speak Spanish themselves, have sent their children here to learn what they are sure is becoming an essential skill in this increasingly bilingual city. Ignoring Spanish would be quite a feat in New York. Puerto Ricans began arriving in the 1930's, followed by Dominicans, Cubans and, lately, Mexicans.