The school where I am a guest student teacher

 

 

Colegio San Agustin is a private, catholic school in Chiclayo, Peru.  It is located on the outside of town on the way to the beach.  It takes about 30 minutes for my mini-bus carpool to get me there.  Due to the tropical climate the school has an open design with few interior hallways.  There are two large plazas one for primary students and one for secondary.  There is no central heating or cooling system.  The building is mostly concrete with wooden doors and windows.  The students stay in the same classroom for the most part throughout the day.  It is the teachers that must move around to find the students.  Exactly the other way around from the way schools work in the U.S.  The teachers don't have a desk or personal work space.  Things are different here.

 

The organization of the grades is different that in the U.S.  Primary grades are counted from 1-6.  Upon entering the secondary grades, the numbers begin again at 1 and go through 5.  I'm not sure where the 1st year secondary students are, I haven't seen them.  Second  year students in  the secondary grades in Peru are equivalent to eighth graders in the U.S.  Third year students in secondary grades in Peru are therefore equivalent to 9th graders in the U.S.  Fourth year students here are equivalent to Sophomores in the U.S. Since Peruvian students are finished with secondary school after year five, they graduarte when they are the equivalent of Juniors in high school in the U.S.  Interestingly, the students start school when they are younger than U.S. students so my statements about being equivalent to U.S. grades is not exactly accurate. This means that secondary graduates are usually 16, sometimes 17, but never older than that.

 

One of the plazas is lined with Palm trees.  Secondary students and primary students share all the same facilities: cafeteria, recreation areas, library and sports fields.  The recreation areas are in the plazas and are used twice each day when there are scheduled breaks for all students.  The boys of course play futbol at any opportunity.  The girls gather is small groups to talk and hang out.  Its interesting to see all the age groups in the same spaces. 

The school is organized as a small campus.  There are outlying buildings for athletic teams to use.  These include a gymnasium, a coloseum and a swimming pool with grandstand.  Below is a photo of the coloseum.  In addition, there is a soccer field and pista, or running track made of sand.