Development of the Welcome Center for immigrants and refugees in the School District of Philadelphia is chronicled. The program emerged from dialogue between the Task Force for the Education of Asian Immigrants and Refugee Students and the Philadelphia School District, and began operation under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Language Education. The goal of the pilot project was to assess limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in two subdistricts for health and educational needs, and to explore whether the task force's expectations would be filled if the program were expanded to the entire district. Initially, students were referred by schools, and the center offered testing in English proficiency and basic arithmetic, recorded medical histories, evaluated vision and hearing, evaluated immunization records, provided parent orientation, and identified students' needs for support services such as sheltered classes, first language instruction, pre-referral for special education, and tutoring. Services added during the second year included additional reading and literacy tests, introduction of new levels of English instruction in the schools, and a slide-tape presentation for parents. Efforts were made to improve coordination with teachers and staff, communication with parents, and location for service delivery. The program has been found to be effective in the screening of new LEP students. (MSE)