In 1990-91, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) (Texas) received a Title VII grant to serve a population of recently arrived limited English proficient (LEP) high school students. Additional years of funding were subsequently awarded. These students typically have had interrupted schooling in their own countries, resulting in a wide range of literacy skills. The district's program, open to students of all language backgrounds, aims to improve English proficiency and achievement skills of target students through intensive instruction in small classes. It is intended that students be mainstreamed after one year in the Newcomers Program. In the 1994-95 year, the 116 students served demonstrated an average 14-point gain on the Language Assessment Battery over the year, indicative of improvement, but not proficiency. The program did worse than had been anticipated in keeping students in school in 1994-95, although it had kept more students enrolled than expected in the prior years. Both program staff and students thought that the program had been helpful in assisting students to make the transition to English, and students rated the support and encouragement of the faculty highly. The 1994-95 school year was the final year of the Title VII Newcomers program. (Contains 1 table, 33 figures, and 7 references.) (SLD)