Learning about the island

There are five schools (that we know of) in San Pedro, Belize. Four of them are elementary schools, and only one being high school. Elementary consists of Infant I, Infant II, and six standard grades (first through eighth grade). There is no kindergarten, but all the criteria is suppose to be covered in child-care (I will be soon traveling to the childcare centers as well to see how these operates as well). Infant I is considered first grade back in the states, but the students are only 4 years old. Even though they are only 4 years old, they are taught first grade standards. Infant II is considered second grade, and the students are 5 to 6 years old. Standard I is third, and so on until Standard VI being eight grade. So there elementary system consists of Infant I or first grade through Standard VI or eighth grade. The standards are not "grade levels," instead the standards are development/academic milestones the students must meet in order to move on.

The first school you see when arriving into the little airport in San Pedro is Pedro Roman Catholic primary school, which is where a good percentage of the kids attend. It is a public school even though parents have to pay a little tuition, which occurs at all schools. Tuition is around 30 Belizean dollars. This particular school is the cheapest tuition for parents though, and it is what most parents can afford. The class size can range up to 30 students per class. Island Academy is another private elementary school, and it is attended by the more wealthy, higher-class students. Most of the children there are either come from a wealthy family, or foreign large business owners on the island. These children usually either go inland to Belize City or to the USA for high school. There are also three other elementary schools, Island Academy, Isla Bonita, and Ambergris Caye.

The two elementary schools we will be doing our field experience at are Isla Bonita and Ambergris Caye. I will be doing mine at Ambergris Caye, and I will find out my classroom placement on Monday. There are 54 students in the whole school from Infant I to Standard VI (a total of 7 classrooms because standard V and VI are together). The Infant I classroom had a total of two students, and the biggest class has around 14 students. The students have a 15 minute break around 10:00 am, and have lunch outside from a little building. The food is ordered and brought to the building for students to purchase lunch.

The next elementary school is called Isla Bonita. In this school, there are about 90 students. The class sizes range from 8 to 14 students. The school has eight classrooms, one for each standard and Infant I and II. The students at both elementary and high schools have the choice of having school lunch or going home for lunch. All schools have a uniform policy as well.

The next school we visited is the high school. We walked straight up the beach, stepped off and arrived at the high school. The scenery alone of the amazing beach and ocean would distract me from school (picture below). The one building had two floors with all the windows and doors open because there is no air conditioning at the school. The class size here is about 30 students because most all of the kids from the elementary school go to San Pedro High School (picture on top of the blog) for "forms I through IV." This is correlated to our freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. The gym or "auditorium" where the students participate in gym activities is an auditorium that is outside. The back wall is full, and the two side walls are half. There are bleachers on the side with a basketball court in the middle. When we first arrived at the high school, students were playing basketball, a little volleyball, or soccer for a physical education class.

The students usually graduate high school around the age of fourteen to sixteen years old, which is a very different from the states where most who graduate are almost eighteen. After graduation, most find local jobs around the area, and some will go on for their associates degree if they can afford it. The only two associates degrees offered on the island are business and tourism, but they can go inland to Belize City to get their associates. This is much harder for most people because it is a lot more expensive.

To become a teacher in San Pedro a high school degree is only need. Most of the teachers in the schools do not have their associates degree, for it is too expensive. At Ambergris Caye, the principal is asking her teacher to get any associates just to have more education, but again the only too that are assessable on the island are business and tourism. One teacher in particular at Ambergris Caye was only eighteen years old teaching a classroom of Standard V and VI (grades 7 and 8 in the states).