the Thomas Jefferson school

Here is a picture of the woman with whom I am working here at the Thomas Jefferson School, Miss Valeska. Notice their totally "vakan" (Chilean slang for COOL!) uniforms (same colors as Urbana! represent!). The school was designed to be taught in English up until 7th grade, but nobody really teaches in English here. Apparently they found that the students were not learning a solid foundation in either English or Spanish by speaking Spanish at home and having school in English. So, you'll hear the every now and then "oh-kay estudents, plees take out your books" ("books" being pronounced like "boo" but with a "ks" on the end.) My siblings, however, grew up in this school and their English is pretty decent.