He said parents who are from different countries can sometimes be intimidated by the public education system and don't understand that they have a place and a voice in the school.

Erlacher said the parents' night is a hybrid of a school community meeting, a family activity, student performance and food fest. But it gets parents through the doors and familiar with the school.

Nix said at Glendale they make phone calls and home visits, personally inviting parents to come to school meetings, parent-teacher conferences and school activities.

"All of our parents have the common denominator that we want to see our children do well," said Nix. "As a school we make it apparent they are wanted and needed at the school."

Gomez said one of the biggest challenges in high-minority schools is language barriers. Both Ogden and Salt Lake City not only make efforts to hire bilingual teachers but mandate that all teachers in the district must have an ESL endorsement within three years.

Spencer said dropout rates are also higher in schools with minorities.

"Kids come of age around 10th grade and want to start work and help out their families," Spencer said. "Some never had a family member graduate high school let alone college — they are worried more about putting food on the table."

But he said like many other districts, Ogden has programs that partner with universities showing students the ins and outs of going to college, getting financial aid — teaching students that it is possible for them to go to school.

Gomez said the diverse schools are still succeeding and nearly all the schools in Ogden and Salt Lake City have reached proficiency benchmarks on state tests.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com