School Shopping

(Warning: long blog entry!)

The past week Lynn and I, together with Lizette (MCC Bolivia director) visited nine different schools in Santa Cruz. We saw quite the spectrum of options, ranging from the next-to-our-house Methodist school, to a large (3,000 students) Catholic school, to an all English speaking prep school that costs $5,000/year (not really an option, but we went just out of curiosity). Our hope has been to find a Bolivian school that would give our children a chance to study in Spanish and experience Bolivian culture, have an educational philosophy and class sizes we feel comfortable with, AND fall within a reasonable price range for the MCC budget and avoid a completely elitist environment. So, quite the objective!! Maybe we are too idealistic, but believe it or not, we found a school that seems to meet our criteria.

But first a bit about the schools we visited. Admittedly, this may be more detail than some of you want, but because others have asked, we’ll include it here. We compiled a long list of schools based on recommendations from everyone we could think to ask. Most were private, partly because publicly funded schools here have large classes and a very rigid style of education, and partly because we didn’t feel right using up resources designated for Bolivian children (I’m not sure if we could even get into a public school if we wanted to).

We visited several Catholic schools – Catholics have a long history in education in Latin America. Several of them were fairly humble: 30-40 children in a classroom, very little hanging on the walls, rows of desks facing a blackboard. It seems like dictation is a primary form of learning. We saw lots of first graders making rows and rows of letters and words in their notebooks, copying from the blackboard – not exactly what we had in mind. Another Catholic school we visited had 3,000 students in an amazing facility that was meticulously landscaped and included lots of outdoor space and an indoor pool. We visited several other private schools sponsored by the Methodist church and the Baptist churches. It was inspiring to see meet so many different administrators and teachers committed to education and opportunities for children. We visited the English speaking school (not the $5000/year one) that MCC children have traditionally been attending. Currently there are five MCC kids there and so initially it is where we thought that Nathan would be attending. It is a modest, yet comfortable facility that seems very committed to helping the child that is outside of his/her culture. Nathan was initially registered there and so when we visited the first grade room, we saw his name on an empty desk and it choked me up a bit. We are sure it is a good education, but the disadvantages we see are the distance (it is about 30-45 minutes from the MCC office) and we also feel like our kids would have a much harder time learning Spanish if they are in an English school environment all day.

"De la Sierra"
We are really pleased that the school we decided on is about six blocks from our current house and about a 10-15 minute walk from the MCC office. It is called De la Sierra Colegio Internacional. We appreciate the flexibility and openness of the administrators and teachers. In the first grade room, we noticed that the children were sitting around tables rather than rows of desks and they were doing their own original writing in journals (reminiscent of kid-writing in Nathan’s kindergarten last year) as opposed to copying something from the blackboard. In talking with the teacher, we liked the educational philosophy (they used the word “constructivism” to describe it—that caught Lynn’s attention!). Class size was a very positive thing too—15-20 kids in a room, and the cost is within budget. Of course, it all remains to be seen once we really get there, but our initial impressions are positive.

On Friday we took Nathan and Maria to visit. Nathan was fairly reluctant. For example, he refused to get dressed for a time, but then eventually got moving when we promised a treat on the way home. Believe me, these days we are not above bribery. Maria was actually eager to visit, but I believe she is a bit naïve about it all. We wouldn’t be in such a hurry to get Maria started in school, but the advantages of having them start at the same time seem important. The preschool room where Maria will be and the kindergarten room where Nathan will be are right beside each other and open into the same outdoor play area. So they will have chances to see each other and the teachers can easily communicate with each other. Nathan’s teacher speaks some English. The Bolivian school year is February to November so the administrator suggested having them “audit” the last two months of this current year. Then in February, Nathan will enter first grade and Maria, preK.

So our plan is to have Nathan work with a tutor for the next two weeks and then have them both start at De la Sierra on Mon. Sept. 15th. The school day is 7:30 am-12:40 pm. A little shorter for Maria. They pack a snack, but come home for lunch. The half day schedule is consistent throughout all the schools (except the American systems). It holds a lot of appeal for us because it gives the kids some down time at home and some time to do a little English work too.

So, like Lizette told us, getting our family situated and stable is valid and important work right now. I think she said something like “stable families make stable programs.” We’re grateful for the support from MCC as we’ve worked at this. We’ll take it one day at a time and see how things unfold.

~Laurie