PATABAMBA PRE-UNIVERSITY ACADEMY – PROJECT UPDATE
April 3, 2014
In our third year of the Patabamba Pre-University Academy Project, the Alma Foundation together with
the parents of Patabamba and Sihua are taking further steps to pass the project from Alma to the
parents themselves.
This year the Academy will again expand from 2 days of 3 hour classes per week to 3 days of 3 hour
classes. We will again hire four academy professors: 2 from the Patabamba secondary school who have
previous academy experience, and 2 from the prestigious Raimondi Academy in Cusco. An important
change this year, however, is that all academy materials will be elaborated by the professors according
to the needs of the students instead of purchasing them from the Raimondi Academy.
Based on the project evaluations from 2012 and 2013, the professors, under the guidance of our
Academy Director, Pedro, created the entire 2014 lesson plan which is divided into weekly chapters and
compiled in one large workbook. By doing this, we can better evaluate teacher and student progress,
adapt the material specifically to the needs of the students, and solve the problem from previous years
in which students lose their worksheets throughout the months of academy- leaving them without
sufficient study materials when they sign up for the entrance exams in November. In addition, the
students’ parents are increasing their contribution to the Academy by paying for their child’s Academy
materials.
Academy inscription opened on March 31st and will continue through April 11th. The first day of
Academy classes is Monday, April 14th. Like last year, the Academy is open to all secondary school
students and we expect a total of 60-70 children.
