Previous Story
Parents rally to keep lab school running
|
Posted on Jun 02 2004
The economic slowdown in the Marianas has trickled down to the Northern Marianas College Laboratory School, causing turmoil that has rallied the Lab School Parent Advisory Council to take quick action to alleviate the situation.
The council said it is in dire need of about $136,000 that will be used to hire three teachers for the lab school. Without these teachers hired in June and onboard in August, the school may have to close the NMC model teaching site, and move to other Public School System facilities.
“We need to raise [$136,000] in the next few weeks, or the results could be disastrous to the future educational needs of our Public School teachers and children. That’s why the Parent Advisory Council will be canvassing the community in the next few days, seeking help to alleviate this tenuous situation,” said PAC secretary Sybilla Guerrero.
The council described the lab school as a dynamic preschool to 8th grade elementary school “where future CNMI teachers are trained in model classrooms under the direction of mentor teachers at the NMC School of Education.”
“Since its inception, hundreds of CNMI PSS teachers have gained from the CLS experience, raising the quality of education in the CNMI. The CLS provides future CNMI teachers with state-of-the-art teaching practices under the tutelage of education experts, keeping abreast of the evolving developments in curriculum materials and methods,” the council said in a statement.
Although the CNMI governor, Legislature and community have voiced their support for the lab school, and its teaching concepts, CLS remains facing funding shortfalls.
To get through the next school year, CLS must hire the three teachers but the $136,000 is not available. “This can seriously impact the model school program and the quality of CNMI education,” the council said.
For more information, call CLS principal Richard Pulhalla at 234-5498, Ext. 2205.
