Agassiz School
20 Child Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 635-8198
Welcome, Bienvenidos. I am Alfredo Nuñez, principal of the Agassiz
Elementary School. I have been asked to tell you a little about our school,
our students and teachers and our educational philosophy.
The Agassiz is the fifth largest elementary school in the Boston
Public School system, and the largest in our zone. We have 880 students
in grades kindergarten one to fifth grade. Our students come from many ethnic
and cultural backgrounds. Several are new to our country.
We are located in Jamaica Plain, in the southwest corner of Boston,
Massachusetts. Jamaica Plain is one of the most historically rich and culturally
diverse areas of Boston. We are within walking distance of Harvard University's
Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica
Pond, a part of the scenic Emerald Necklace
and the historic Loring-Greenough House. A large
part of our curriculum involves using these excellent resources for student
learning.
We are fortunate to have a very talented and committed faculty. Our teachers
attend many teaching workshops, seminars and conferences, participate in
programs such as Vecinos, Impact II and Community Service Learning, work
in conjunction with universities like Boston
College and Lesley College, and regularly
mentor student teachers.
Both our teachers and students are actively engaged in using technology
to increase learning. Parents and teachers have worked very hard over the
past few years to create a state of the art Macintosh computer lab and to
make a multimedia computer a part of every classroom. Our faculty places
great emphasis on teaching students to think critically and solve problems
creatively. They have developed thematic teaching units which integrate
instruction of multiple subjects in the curriculum. It was very natural,
therefore, for these teachers to employ technology as a teaching tool in
the classroom.
Every year our students are exposed to a multitude of programs and activities
geared to enhancing the curricular offerings. The DARE
program for fifth grade students, the Open Airways American Lung Association
program for third graders, the Audubon Society
Environmental program for our second graders are examples. We also have part-time artists-in-residence
working with children on theatre arts, instrumental music, visual arts
and dance. Just recently we began a kindergarten program with the Kodaly
Music Center.