El sábado 28 de enero se llevó a cabo la inauguración del ciclo escolar 2023 para el nivel medio superior con la visita especial de miembros del Hermanamiento Newton-San Juan del Sur.
El nivel técnico iniciará el domingo 12 de febrero con clases regulares tanto de carreras como de inglés como lengua extranjera.
El domingo 18 de diciembre a las 3:00PM tuvimos la graduación de 17 técnicos de secundaria.
Congratulations to the graduating students and families. This is the 21st graduation and the ceremony included 75 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts students.
Dedicated to:
To God, Our Parents and Teachers
Patricia Claeys Foundation
Free Institute for Adults
Margaret Morganroth Gullete
Lester Osvaldo García
FHS class of 2009
Lester García is studying Industrial Electricity Saturdays at the National Technical Institute in Jinotepe.
Lester, age 33, works as a security guard at a restaurant and lives in Las Brisas, about 20 K from SJ, with a wife and an 11-year-old daughter.
Judy Gomez Davila
FHS class of 2018
Judy Gomez is studying Education at the Paolo Freire University in Rivas. Judy, age 39, works as a house cleaner and lives in Las Delicias with a 14 year-old daughter and a 9 year-old son. She volunteers with a church group building a school.
Dr. Rosa Elena Bello administers a temperature check to one of our teachers, the dedicated math and calculus professor, Dorquis Muniz. The thermometers were a gift from one of our monthly donors, Christianna Martynowski. Everyone who enters the Campus gets their temperature taken.
Each of the 13 rural middle-school teachers (two are shown here, Marvin Calderon of Collado and Grey Rostran of Las Parcelas) received a hygiene kit, including a gallon of Clorox for cleaning desks, floors, and latrines; and a bottle of sanitizer to distribute to each students’ family.
Our teachers are physically present every Saturday for virtual teaching from the Computer Lab. Here, a carefully-protected worker, sent by the Ministries of Health and Education, sprays just outside the Lab.
A February photo of two FHS seniors (graduated 2019) who were given scholarships to university by Don Ross, the treasurer of the Sister City Board. They are shown at a meeting held for 45 current seniors, who were given a counseling session run by Don Ross and some scholarship holders, focused on how to apply for scholarships. Only 15 people came to the session last year; this year, three times that number.
In April Covid-19 forced us to close the FHS for a month. In May we opened the Campus virtually, and the rural middle schools reopened live with social distancing and sanitizing measures. In the Computer Lab, during the April recess,17 Campus teachers learned how to teach online. They are succeeding despite all the obstacles.
Teaching takes more time than it used to. On Saturday, classes start, as they always did, at 8:45, and end at 3:45. Some teachers offer Zoom-like classes at a given time, while others devise assignments for online reading that will stay up for a period of time. All our teachers are offering personalized instruction, answering questions, motivating students to stay with the program.
Attendance has been up, between 80% and 91% of students, week by week. Students use their phones, or borrow a device. Parents and other relatives are much more deeply involved now that students are visibly studying at home.
Support the recent changes to continue instruction during the pandemic.
Support the Free High School