Agassiz School

20 Child Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 635-8198

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Welcome, Bienvenidos. I am Alfredo Nuņez, 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.




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