Alison Bixby Stone School (ABSS)

Located in the heart of the Zamorano University (Pan-American School of Agriculture) campus, the Alison Bixby Stone School (ABSS) has the mission to provide children of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds a stimulating and challenging educational environment that fosters intellectual, social and emotional growth while instilling an awareness of environmental responsibility and the understanding that learning is a lifelong process that is both meaningful and enjoyable.

The Alison Bixby Stone School is an innovative institution offering instruction in English to students in Nursery through the sixth grade. What makes the school stand out from others is its personalized approach to learning through a low student-teacher ratio, a policy of best educational practices in use in the classroom and, extremely competent teaching staff. In conjunction with faculty from the University of Purdue, the school seeks to serve as model for other educational institutions by implementing professional development seminars for its staff and Honduran educators from around the country. Five full professional days are allocated to the staff of the ABSS during the year in order to monitor school curriculum, engage in whole faculty study groups, and prioritize academic needs.

Employment Opportunities

Events

March 2007 Healthy Living Month
The Month of March was dedicated to healthy living. Kinder made a wonderful bulletin board naming the many things they could do to live a healthy life. Students were encouraged to bring healthy snacks and only healthy snacks were sold during morning recess.

Professional Training
Thanks to a generous donation from the Assessment Training Institute in Portland, Oregon the "Instituto de Capacitación Docente de Alison Bixby Stone School" has gotten off to a strong start. Nine half day training sessions have been planned for teachers from public schools in the Yeguare Valley during the Honduran School Year 2007. The first three sessions included Math and Reading Strategies and Introduction to Computers. The participants have been very enthusiastic about this opportunity. The trainings will continue through November.

International School Selling Bee
The Alison Bixby Stone School was invited to participate in the Spelling Bee held at the International School in Tegucigalpa. A student was selected from each of the 6 grade levels. Our representatives were Marian Torres Lopez, first grade, Barbara Cardona Raudales, second grade, Shekina Tare Jimenez Hinostroza, third grade, Carlos Eduardo Mendoza Vasquez, forth grade, Paola Andrea Hincapié, fifth grade and Ernesto Spichiger Rivas from sixth grade. Several of our students got as far as fourth place out of 35 participants.

Family Fun Day
May 4th we celebrated Family Fun Day from 11:00 to 2:45. Each class had an activity booth that included a Cake Walk, Soccer Kick, Water Ballon Toss, and Face Painting. There was also a Tombola and a raffle for a bike. Food sales included Pupusas, Pinchos, Calazones and Pizza. A good time was had by all.