My day began at the Escuela Osvaldo Jorge Leon of which Marce’s friend Nancy is principal. This is a school in a vulnerable neighborhood and receives lots of PIIE funds. These vulnerable schools are referred to as escuelas urbana marginales. I was immediately struck by the 10 foot chain link fence topped off with barbed wire surrounding the school, giving it the appearance of a prison compound. Schools tend to be a favorite target for thieves and this school has a lot of resources that would be of interest to thieves.
Nancy gave me a tour of her school – two buildings, one for primary and one for upper grades. Each building had an internet-connected computer lab, a library, and a lunch room. There was also a large SUM, or multipurpose room, that allowed them to have physical education indoors on rainy or cold days.
Nancy gave me a tour of her school – two buildings, one for primary and one for upper grades. Each building had an internet-connected computer lab, a library, and a lunch room. There was also a large SUM, or multipurpose room, that allowed them to have physical education indoors on rainy or cold days.
They work looking at their curriculum to see that there was flow from one level to the next. This is what we are beginning to do through the GAPEC project with Roosevelt. I could envision broadening it to include the APCC Head Start and PK that feeds into our kindergartens. Nancy also had nine maestros de integración, one for each of her special education students. These teachers were to shadow the students throughout the day. I’m not clear as to whether the teachers were fully endorsed or just aides.
It seems like the only way schools get extra funds is if they apply for programas, and in order to qualify for this, schools need to be low income. Nancy has many resources because she applies for every programa that is available. She runs the risk of overextending herself and her school by becoming a “Christmas tree school.”
Marce picked me up at 11:00 and we went to the Sabin School in a villa. The principal’s name is Cristina. We met her the other day in the inspectora’s office. Sabin School interested me because of their attempts to do bilingual education and because of what they are doing to empower minority cultures. There school is made up of Quechua-speaking students from Bolivia and Peru and Guaraní-speaking students from Paraguay. Cristina herself knows some Quechua because her father is of a Quechua-speaking family in the Northwest corner of Argentina.
Cristina has not yet found a Quechua-speaking teacher for her school, but classrooms do post words in the language. She has solicited the help of a social agency with a Quechua translator to help her connect with the parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment