Schools and Education 

 

This page is intended to help you better understand the way school is structured in Nicaragua, and how Circulo de Amigas supports your student in her schooling. Since most of Circulo's students are in grade school or high school, that's the focus of this page. We plan to add more information on college in Nica as time permits, but in any case: if you have a student approaching college, you should hear more from her!

There are two lower-ed schools in Nicaragua: primary (primeria, or los grados - grades one through five), and secondary (secundaria, or los años - high school). There is no junior high or middle school. Children typically start Grade 1 at age 7, and complete high school at age 17. Some kids attend pre-escolar, and some attend high school into their twenties. These things vary by each student's stituation.

The school year starts about February 1 and runs through about November 30, with a 14-15 day vacation halfway through, usually in July. Children attend classes half days - mornings or afternoons. This, along with large class sizes, allows the schools to maximize their limited resources.

There is no social promotion in the Nicaraguan school system. For this reason, and because of the enormous disadvantages many of our students face, it is not uncommon for them to repeat grades or years... sometimes even more than once! However, Circulo watches for students who struggle and offers tutoring (clases de reforzamiento). We also offer token cash incentives for good grades and attendance, and disincentives (multas) for poor attendance.

Your student is expected to write to you, and to send you her most recent report card (boletín escolar) at least four times per year. Failure to do so can also result in multas (graduated fines, deductions from the next month's stipend). Repeated failures to correspond and share progress reports can result in a lost sponsorship. The girls, and their parents or guardians, know that although Circulo de Amigas and its sponsors want to help poor girls, we don't offer our help without expectations. The core expectation is to be a good citizen (ciudadana buena), commensurate with age and ability. (Of course, older, able girls are held to higher expectations than younger or less-able girls. And parents and guardians are expected to help their students meet expectations.)

However, it's not only important for students to correspond with sponsors and to share their report cards, but it's also important that sponsors acknowledge their students' efforts. See the Progress Reports page and the Letters and Packages page for more info.