But 90 percent of refugee kids fail the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test or UBSCT in high school, meaning they can't receive a diploma. They get a certificate instead, but that isn't what college admissions offices or would-be employers are looking for.

West High sophomore Kamila Yaqoobi from Afghanistan fell about five points short of passing UBSCT on her first try.

"I was so close to pass it," she said, adding the reading, writing and math are equally hard. Fortunately, students get five cracks at the test over three years.

"I hope I pass on the second time," she said. "I don't want to have to go every time."

In addition to her teachers, Yaqoobi has Virginia Taylor looking out for her and her six siblings. Taylor or "Miss Virginia" has spent nearly three years as a volunteer tutor for the family.

"Unless they have something more, they fall through the cracks," she said. "How would your kids do if you didn't insist they do their homework?"

If the Yaqoobi children, ranging from elementary to high school age, don't have homework on Taylor's twice weekly visits, she gives them something to work on.

"The younger ones don't have as difficult a time. If you were in 10th grade, reading, math and science would just be overwhelming," she said.

Early birds

Refugees at the elementary level where all things are still possible can't get enough of school. They arrive early and stay late.

Three Somali Bantu children showed up at Mountain View Elementary last Monday morning smartly dressed in navy blue and khaki uniforms for their first day of class. But the doors were locked.

They didn't know spring break was still on for another day.

Refugee children, especially Somali Bantus, often arrive at the Glendale area school at 6:30 a.m. when the doors open. Their working parents, who can't afford to be late, have no choice but drop them off before sunrise. It's not unusual for principal Erlacher to see them sleeping in one of the building's carpeted kivas.

Mountain View has about 60 Somali Bantu students and more than 20 refugees from other countries. Refugees make up nearly 15 percent of its student body.

"These kids are coming in with no literacy, and their parents are, too," said Erlacher, who after a 10-year stint in the scrap metal business returned to education in 1999.

Along with the ABCs, refugee students must be taught social skills such as respecting someone else's property and properly using a urinal.

"But all in all, they're great kids. They're very quick to learn. They're very interested in learning," Erlacher said.

Placing new students in age-appropriate classrooms is tricky. African refugees often don't know how old they are. Immigration officials estimate the year of birth and typically assign them a Jan. 1 birth date.