Ruth Plaut Preschool & Community Center

Project Specifics:

• Name of Project: Ruth Plaut Preschool & Community Center
• Location: La Mina, Los Brazos Dominican Republic
• Type of Facility: Private Preschool and Community Center supported by DREAM Project
• Ownership: Giddeon Plaut, Blue Moon Retreat
• DREAM Start date at Project: March, 2005
• Current DREAM Volunteer: currently recruiting for the 2008/2009 school year
• Special Donors: Athenian School

Project Overview:

Gideon Plaut, owner of Blue Moon Retreat, founded the Ruth Plaut Foundation in order to serve the impoverished members of the rural community of La Mina. Through the foundation, he built the Ruth Plaut Preschool & Community Center.

In 2006, the Ruth Plaut School opened its doors to 29 children aged 2-6. The preschool serves as a pioneering preschool and kindergarten with a curriculum based on equal rights, promotion of democratic principles and a child-centered education. It incorporates Montessori-based activities into the curriculum and is a participant in DREAM’s teacher training program.

Although the Ruth Plaut School is privately run, families are not required to pay tuition.  Rather, parents are asked to volunteer at the school two weeks per year and encouraged to take an active role in their child’s education. Many parents enjoy participating in their child’s day at school and take advantage of this opportunity.

The Ruth Plaut School will continue to participate in DREAM’s teacher training workshops. Three teachers at the school are a part of the training program, in which educators from numerous DREAM affiliated schools come together to learn new teaching strategies and classroom methodology. Frequent visits by DREAM staff, together with suggestions and support, help teachers align their classrooms with the child-centered philosophy of learning, which includes center-based activities and parent involvement.

After school, the facility opens as a public library and community center, so that young and old alike can benefit from English classes and computer instruction. Youth are invited to take society’s improvement in their own hands by utilizing the school as a resource center. A youth group, Escojo Mi Vida (“I choose my life”), meets weekly at the center to study HIV/AIDS education and develop workshops on sexual health to present to fellow students around the country.  

Project Timeline:

2007/2008

• Summer camp is held at the school for local students, with the help of international volunteers
• School year begins with 32 children enrolled
• Construction of new computer lab facility is complete
• Ruth Plaut teachers continue to participate in teacher training workshops
• Peace Corps volunteer Bianca runs English classes and a youth group at the center
• DREAM staff member Kim Hults works with teachers once per week to evaluate progress and implementation of new ideas
• A local resident begins volunteering in the classroom three times per week

 

2006/2007

• The school opens with 29 children
• Two DREAM volunteers, Rebecca McMillan and Julia Mabry, assist the Dominican teacher at the school during the first semester.
• Ruth Plaut school participates in the Open Society Institute’s teacher trainings organized by DREAM
• Two parents are trained and hired at the school to assist the teacher
• English classes are offered to the community by DREAM volunteers
• A local resident volunteer, Eneyda Reyes Almonte, offers computer classes.
• A Peace Corps volunteer begins work at the center with the community’s youth

2005/2006

• Construction of center is completed
• Athenian School student service trip provides finishing touches to center along with providing needed supplies
• DREAM begins solicitation for fulltime volunteer for the 2006-2007 academic year

Program Goals:

As an independently run private school that receives no funding from the Dominican government, it is DREAM’s goal to help Ruth Plaut to become financially independent. DREAM will also continue to train of the teachers of Ruth Plaut in the Step by Step Program in order to enrich the school curriculum.

Program Needs:

2007/2008

• Teacher Salaries: Funds are currently needed to continue supporting the salaries of the three Dominican teachers employed by Ruth Plaut.
• Food: Ruth Plaut aims to expand the preschool to a full-day program. Funds are needed to provide the students with breakfast and lunch to make this expansion possible.
• Materials: DREAM is continually seeking basic school supplies for our classrooms. Please refer to our supply wish list for our most current needs.
• Volunteers: Ruth Plaut is seeking volunteers to work in the classroom and help support the teachers in the Step by Step Program.
• Computers: Due to the current electricity situation, the best computers for this site are the VTech Language Learning Notebooks with rechargeable batteries. A donation of $100 will buy a Notebook for the Learning Center.