Volume 26, Number 1
January/February 2010

Learning from Haiti

One school marshals its resources to support its students, families in wake of the earthquake

by Colleen Gillard

 

Janelle Bradshaw, principal of the Haggerty School in Cambridge, Mass., with two of her students.

After the Haitian earthquake struck last month, Janelle Bradshaw, principal of the Haggerty School in Cambridge, Mass., hoped to make helping others a learning experience for her students. What she did not expect was how much she would learn about how to support the Haitian families at her school.

“I think at first everyone was so focused on helping those abroad,” Bradshaw says, “[it’s easy to] forget there are those in distress in your own community.” Also on her mind: students in Haggerty’s sister school, Matenwa, located outside Port au Prince.

Bradshaw knew she had a number of Haitian families at her K-6 school, but was uncertain how many. A call to the school department was of little help, since a district-wide home-language survey cited only two children at the 300-student school, and she knew she had more.