South County school districts embrace technology for language translation.

It’s not that long ago that bulletin boards were one of the main resources to find out about community events, school announcements and job opportunities. They still exist, but information is increasingly online. And now there is an app, Nurbli, that is creating an online bulletin board so Monterey County residents and beyond can access information about their school district and local government at their fingertips.

On Aug. 14, South Monterey County Joint Union High School District approved a one-year pilot program to include Nurbli as part of its resources to reach out to the indigenous community among its four high schools. “We are excited to try out the app and to see if parents respond well,” says Griselda Delgado, the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services.

Benito Sanchez is a Greenfield High School graduate and Triqui speaker. He is also a software engineer who was motivated to develop the app after the Pajaro flooding in 2023 affected many indigenous residents.

SMCJUHSD became aware of the app during a brainstorming meeting at Hartnell College in which representatives of different organizations discussed information accessibility for Monterey County’s population of Mexican indigenous speakers. Delgado, who has been in the county for about a year, says she realized parents weren’t getting information in their native language, and providing written translated documents wouldn’t be helpful either, since many cannot read.

Greenfield Unified School District is also using the app; Sanchez has reached out to Gonzales Unified as well.

The app provides more than a physical bulletin board. It invites a user to add their zip code, set the app’s interface language – English or Spanish – and the language they want for audio. The app populates with flyers and similar materials that are available in the local area. Users can then read them in their original language or listen to them in English, Spanish, Mixteco de San Martín Peras, or Triqui Bajo.

Currently, Nurbli includes flyers about after-school tutors at King City High School, low-cost internet service, and the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center help line. The app is still in its infancy; it launched in May, and the volume of information remains pretty slim. Sanchez says it will grow as more entities, including local governments, school districts and organizations sign up and post updates about services, public meetings and other engagement opportunities.