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GREENSBORO – It's been around for less than three years, but a Doris Henderson Newcomers School in Greensboro already has helped hundreds of immigrant and refugee children make a life in their new country.

The school's current 260 students are from 40 countries, speak 25 different languages and are on improbable journeys. They're also this country's newest Americans in need of a hand up.

"These children come from backgrounds where they've experienced war, all sorts of levels of trauma, genocide, have been living in refugee camps, and so they have a very difficult background," said Jake Henry, the school's principal.

They're students like Biranga Nine-Ntibonera, a 19-year-old from the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose father, a priest, was targeted for preaching a message of peace.

"Different people come into our house. They beat us. They do bad things to us,” said Nine-Ntibonera. “Sometimes we sleep in the forests. We stayed in the house without eating food for one week."

The 19 teachers at Newcomers School have their work cut out for them.

Federal guidelines limit a student's stay to a year, which is not much time to prepare to transition to a regular school in the Guilford County school district.

"Some come with some academics and language is their only problem, so they make that transition very quickly,” said Kathy Cole, a reading specialist. “Others come without any academic background at all, where security and safety were more important than going to school.”

While there's a lot to do in the classroom, life issues loom large.

Teachers and staff make home visits and the school has partnered with UNCG's psych clinic and hospice for counseling.

"But we feel like the healing process begins here by establishing that caring and nurturing environment where students can begin to get their feet settled and start opening up and talking about their stories," said Henry.

Newcomers School is a place for a new start and students are grateful.

"Here there is right for education for me and my family,” said Nine-Ntibonera. “Life here is good for me and my family."

About a third of the students at Doris Henderson Newcomers School are immigrants.

Seventy percent are refugees, resettled in North Carolina by four organizations including World Relief.

They come from countries around the globe including Vietnam, Nepal and Iraq.