Learning Center Classes
Yspaniola provides classes in Spanish language literacy to students ages 4 to 15 in Batey Libertad. With one Academic Director, one Learning Center Director, 4 full-time teachers, and five teaching assistants from the Batey, our Learning Center serves more than 150 students from the community. Students are grouped into 8 different classes according to age and ability. Our curriculum helps students in the Batey develop literacy skills not acquired in public school—like phonics and reading strategies—where the quality of instruction is poor and students often complete primary school unable to read at a basic level. Although our primary focus is on Spanish language instruction, Yspaniola also strives to create a healthy environment for child development by fostering skills related to reading comprehension, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and problem solving. Yspaniola places special emphasis on individualized attention, and we regularly assess the abilities and progress of each of our students. We employ a variety of testing methods to gauge learning outcomes, including:
- Customized and comprehensive preschool evaluations
- Customized phonics evaluations
- The Reading A to Z System, which enables us to track student reading growth over time
Learning Center Library
Each week, Yspaniola hosts open reading hours in the Learning Center library. Students and members of the community are able to choose from a growing selection of books (we would always like more)
that they can read.