The 2021-2022 school year started in May with all kinds of obstacles and challenges due to the continuing pandemic. Many of our families had difficulty deciding whether to come back to school or not this year since for many families the economic situation has not improved. Many came back and other didn't, so one challenge this year has been low enrollment rates, a huge risk for the future of the school.
However, we never waver! Thanks to the continue support of our donors, we are still open and are not only surviving but thriving! We were able to provide over forty scholarships to our neediest families this year! We brought two amazing volunteers to aid our teachers and administrators, and we have expanded our environmental education program impressively!
Our volunteers, Natalia and Viviana, are both recent university graduates from Quito. They started the year taking students for beach clean-ups every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They also launched a sewing workshop to teach local families new skills and sew cloth shopping bags to help reduce the use of plastic bags in our area. Most recently, they evaluated each of our students third through seventh grade in reading fluency to help identify students who need extra help in reading. We are amazed and incredibly grateful for their hard work!
In addition to beach clean up and sewing cloth bags, the volunteers also helped to launch a compost competition! Where students have three weeks to create a compost in their yard. The class with the most participation will win a pizza party for the class!
Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this school year possible with your continued support!
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Last week our students handed in their final portfolios and began to enjoy their summer vacation. It was a long, hard school year, 100% online. For students, teachers and parents alike, adapting to school over a phone (for most of our students) has been incredibly challenging. We have all learned so much, from how to change our methodologies to how to navigate the Google Classroom platform. Our entire environmental education program went from group activities to home activities and all of our fundraising efforts have gone online.
When the school year started, we were deeply worried that so many students would withdraw that we would be forced to close the school. Thanks to you, and several local sponsors from Canoa and Quito, we were able to provide 38 students with full or half scholarships! These families continue to struggle as economic recovery is slow, and a great majority of our families depend on tourism for income. Your support this year allowed them to keep their kids at Los Algarrobos, where they feel part of our community, intead of having to change schools on top of all the other changes we made this year. On behalf of these parents, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. We are so blessed to have you in our community.
Throughout the year our sponsored students have sent you updates and videos about their studies. They are in the process of sending you one more thank you note, which upon arrival we hope you consider continuing to sponsor your godchild until they graduate. This year, the government has already declared that the school year will start online. And even though vaccination efforts are underway, we don't expect the economy to recover for some time now. Please consider continuing to sponsor your godchild!
Thank you so very much, and we will see you next school year!
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Thanks to your generous support, we have been able to sponsor 38 students so far to continue studying at Los Alagrrobos. As you know, the majority of our families' livlihoods depend on tourism, which took a heavy hit in March when the government imposed lockdown restrictions. Even though many business have opened since, the economic situation for some of our families continues to be desperate. Thanks to you, they are able to keep their students at Los Algarrobos and continue to benefit from our English classes, environmental education, and access to our library.
In October, the Ecuadorian government asked all schools to do a social study of their families and decide whether to return to the classroom or not through a democratic process. We met with representatives of the local municipality and health center to determine if the school grounds were ready for students to return to the classroom. The decision to return or not was ultimatley determined when the survey of our families revealed that over 70% do not feel comfortable returning to the classroom. Respecting their wishes, we have resolved to continue virtual until further notice.
That said, we are very proud at the progress our teachers have made through their virtual studies. We started the second semester with an extended class schedule to move faster in areas like math and reading. We are also transitioning to a new online platform, Google Classroom. English studies hours have also increased and we continue our monthly environmental education activites online. Our teachers are constantly preparing and researching new ways to use online tools in the virtual classroom.
Again, thank you so much for your support this year! As we approach year-end giving, please consider continuing your support! On December 1st, GlobalGiving is giving a million dollars in matching funds! The more you donate, the greater our match! And from December 14-18, switch to a monthly donation and it will recieve a 200% match on the first month! Join our team! Help us keep our doors open next year by giving during one of these special match opportunities!
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When the pandemic hit during our summer vacation we knew that this was going to be a particularly difficult year in so many ways. At first we weren't sure if the school would be able to continue at all. About half of the school's income comes from tuition and the other half is fundraising by the James Dean Byrd Foundation. With the sever lockdown here, most of our families were no longer able to work and didn't have savings to count on. Many told us that they would have no choice but to withdraw their children because they knew they wouldn't be able pay their part.
With the first hurtle, the matriculation fee, we received over 30 donated matriculation fees! This guarenteed that we could open our doors, and stay open when other private schools in our area have closed!
Then, between GlobalGiving and local Ecuadorian sponsors in Quito, we now have 36 students with full or half scholarships that are able to continue studying with Los Algarrobos and enure that the school stays open for the rest of the school year and into the future! The families that have received help are those that would not have been able to continue, we are so grateful that they are still with us!
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