In a previous post I wrote about how many Latinos do not send their children to pre-school. The interesting findings about this are that Latino children are much better behaved than their non-Latino peers. Spending a lot of time in their mothers' care leads to better social behavior, such as obedience, delayed gratification, and calmness. The downside is that children miss out on the formal education related to reading and writing that are highly valued in U.S. society. By the time kindergarten arrives Latino children find themselves already at an academic disadvantage compared to their non-Latino peers. Add to this that they may not speak English and the gap between them and other groups becomes larger and only grows over time in terms of performance on standardized tests and ultimately graduation rates from high school.
Because cultural values around close family ties and a bit of a suspicion of formal institutions, Latino parents, especially Mexican-descent ones may be inadvertently putting their children at an educational disadvantage.
So, it was no surprise when this morning I read a post on Facebook that stated that Orozco Academy, a public school in the predominantly Mexican Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago first fought to bring free public pre-school to the neighborhood, but is now struggling to meet enrollment goals. If these goals are not met, the pre-school is in danger of being closed.
I sometimes struggle with whether I am being paternalistic, so I can sometimes shy away from outright advocacy, but a simple reality is that while sending kids to pre-school may not be part of the cultural script of Latinos, there is a pressing need to alter that script slightly. In other words, just because Latinos may be leery of sending their pre-school age kids to be cared for outside the home, that does not mean that Latino parents would not be willing to change some of their attitudes if the care was done in a culturally sensitive way and if they saw the significance.
I can vouch for Orozco in that it is a dual language school where both Mexican and U.S. culture and language are celebrated. With a sizable Latino staff and a Latina principal, there is little doubt in my mind about its quality and attention to cultural sensitivity.
And, while Latino parents value togetherness, they also value the dream of saliendo adelante, or getting ahead, a big reason they came to the U.S. in the first place. Understood this way, sending their kids to pre-school will be an important first step on that path.
Here are the details I obtained via the Pilsen Portal Facebook page if you or someone you know is interested in enrolling their child:
Orozco Acadamy is looking for families to participate in their preschool program or CPS will close the service!
Orozco opened up a preschool classroom this year and needs help recruiting families and students into our program. The program runs for three hours (8-11 and 12-3:00) and 95% of instruction in the morning is done solely in Spanish and a mix of Spanish and English in the afternoon. Students will also be able to test into the bilingual gifted program for kindergarten, which is housed at Orozco.
There is open registration at the school Monday-Friday 8:30-2:30. Parents will need to bring their child's birth certificate, proof of income, and two proofs of residency. Families do not need to live in Pilsen but do have to reside within the city of chicago.
To register, go to Orozco Academy 1940 W 18th St Chicago, IL 60608.
