School Daze

Guam Schools......Deep breath, let it out slow....this is a tough nut to crack and we had less than 2 months to do it.
There are basically three school districts in Guam. Public schools, private schools and schools for military families.
The latter are on the military bases and from all descriptions they are identical to public schools on the mainland. We have no access to them, so attendance there isn't a consideration.
The public school system is an incongruity. We have not experienced them firsthand, but every opinion that we have solicited has been identical. The school buildings are in shambles. The outside looks like an abandon warehouse in need of repair and painting. Typhoon shutters falling off and hanging by one corner. Graffiti everywhere. The grass needs mowed and fences are rusty and falling down. Reportedly the maintenance of the restrooms is contracted out to a private company so inept that a part of daily school supplies is a personal cache of toilet paper. I heard a story of a boy who never went to the bathroom at school. Always "held it" till he got home. That's dedication....or desperation.....or, well....Freud may have said something about that.

The schools are big and long bus rides are the norm.

DOE makes GPA payment, avoids disconnection

Financial difficulties are a daily staple in the local news. Lately power was about to be shut off to all of the Department of Education properties the day before school was supposed to start because they had missed a monthly obligation of $200,000 against a million dollar debt to the Guam Power Authority. It was narrowly averted by a dramatic intervention from the Guam legislature to provide the funding needed. There seems to be a constant state of political chaos between the school board and all aspects of the Government of Guam.
The flip side is the teachers and staff are passionate and caring about education and the students. They successfully surmount all obstacles and students thrive despite the environmental challenges they face. There is a constant need for teachers in the public schools. Possibly, after a few years of teaching on the island they move to the mainland or to private schools to teach. "Brain-drain" is a problem. Young people don't often stay on the island after college.
Private schools are plentiful and diverse. Almost all of them are religiously based. There are a lot of Catholic schools since most people on the island are Catholic. Academic curriculum varies more than we bargained for. While looking for a school for Levi and Josiah we inquired with a small evangelical institution that appeared to be what we were looking for in a lot of ways, but the curriculum was entirely self-paced with a minimum of instruction from the staff. Tough for someone who has just made a HUGE move and REALLY tough for someone who is just starting his educational career and has a....uhm.....let's see....how shall I put this?.....questionable....limited....short.... minuscule....attention span. Sorry little brudder :(

2 Minutes after walking through the door.
This one will be alright.

Tuition is high at the schools that can get away with it. I think they are probably really good schools. The problem is, so do they.
We ended up deciding on, albeit guardedly, a school called Saint Francis. It's a catholic school that has a wonderful scholastic curriculum that we are familiar with, and the boys will be exposed to the theological teachings of the church but will not be compelled to practice them. We are presenting it to them (well, Levi any way) as an opportunity to learn something different than what we believe and to hold it in that context.

The teacher was late to school
the first day and at this point
was talking more to himself
than the class.

During the orientation for the 6th grade I was able to speak frankly with the theology instructor and he informed me that they have students enrolled every year with varying beliefs and welcome their diversity as long as they keep an open mind. Levi witnessed the conversation and later reaffirmed that it would be interesting to find out "why they have all these statues around" and why Jesus is hanging on all the crosses there at the school. I am sure we will have some discussions at home on differences between theologies (snort...we already have) but I really think that will open up a dialog with our sons that should help us reinforce Christianity in their lives. Better than not talking about it at all or even worse as evidenced by the trends in public school systems right now.

While searching for media for this blog I found this and couldn't help but add it. Remember the School House Rock videos on Saturday mornings. I'm really conflicted on how apropos this one is now.