“Dances and songs, poems and plays were just part of pomp during the “Celebrating Our Inaugural Year” programs for El Centro’s Imagine School of Imperial Valley.
The public charter school, which opened in August, held a duo of programs during its grand opening Monday. Imagine’s inaugural year has been challenging yet satisfying, said Imagine School Principal Susan Castro.
‘It seems like when people do come into our school they are pleasantly surprised,’ she said.
“It’s been satisfying to be able to be part of a school that’s beginning because we can create our own culture,” she said. “Right now the parents are very pleased and they’re excited about the amount of Spanish and language development their children have received (here).”
And parents agreed, having various reasons for why they are pleased with the school’s performance and the mark Imagine has left on their children in its first year.
‘The experience I’ve had is really positive,’ said Jessica Diaz, Parent-Teacher Organization president and mother of three.
‘The teachers have been very giving of themselves in the school and that’s sometimes hard to find,’ said Diaz, who lives in Imperial. ‘It’s something very special.’
Diaz said she truly believes in the character traits that the school instills in its students.
‘They teach you about the six pillars of character,’ said 10-year-old fourth grader Adam Yoshinaga, recalling them as fairness, trustworthiness, citizenship, respect, responsibility and caring.
‘It basically teaches you how to have a good character and be a good student,’ he said.
Others, as Castro said, believe their students have come a long way in one year in the dual-immersion program (where students learn English and Spanish almost simultaneously).
‘Our kids are going to be living proof that it works,’ said Rosanna Bayon Moore, Imagine parent and El Centro resident.
And Imagine seems to be looking forward to the jump in enrollment from its 401 kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students to about 660 students with the addition of a fifth grade in the fall.
‘I think (the school) has made great strides in a short period of time,’ she said.
‘There’s never a dull moment and it’s always interesting work,’ Castro said. ‘So far for this first year it’s what we were hoping for.'”
Article published on May 24, 2011 by Imperial Valley Press