Chapter 2: What is a Grassroots Community School?

Throughout my life as a Honduran student and educator, I have questioned the disparities in the Honduran education system and dreamt of the possibility of providing public school attendees with the same opportunities that students in the private system enjoy. It is not just better facilities, or better teachers, or a better education that private schools provide; they provide opportunities for futures public school students could seldom, if ever, experience. Later in my career, I came across a nongovernmental organization¹ whose vision is similar to mine—to promote quality education through developing affordable bilingual education in Central America. This organization has been in Honduras for 10 years and is currently working with only one Honduran community that serves 250 students per year, in kindergarten to 11th grade. This organization looks for a community that is interested in an alternative to their current schooling; they work with the community to provide support in curriculum and provide the community with international teachers. In 2003, I was presented with another grassroots community school² that is committed to reaching students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, Esperanza School. This book is a case study of the kind of quiet revolution in schooling that is occurring all around the world, in developing and developed countries, a revolution aimed at provided quality education for all, not just for the privileged. This school is the kind of school that I have long dreamed of as an alternative to the public schools in Honduras. At this stage, I think it is important for a reader to have a sense of what grassroots community schools are like in general.