Jobs: Spanish-English bilingual school Fratney School, Milwaukee

[Scott McGinnis]

Dear friends,

I want to ask you for help. We at La Escuela Fratney are searching for
several additional staff to be part of our innovative school. I thought
that you might know some individuals who would like this opportunity. Or
perhaps you could forward this message to some of your colleagues.

As you may know Fratney started in the midst of a community struggle in
1987. We were Wisconsin's first two-bilingual, Spanish-English
elementary
school. Located in a multiracial working class neighborhood near the
Milwaukee River, it has 360 students (k-4 through 5th grade). Among its
innovative curricular approaches are a whole language/natural approach
to
language acquisition, cooperative learning, anti-racist, multicultural
curricula, theme-based curricula, and student-centered learning. The
student population includes Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, African
Americans, European Americans and small numbers of students from other
Latin American countries.

We need to hire a number of quality teachers. Because we are recipients
of
both additional federal and state monies we have an opportunity (and
challenge) to bring on several more staff at once. We have money for
staff
development, and a strong commitment on the part of the current staff to
help new staff on board. Fratney is the recipient of a large federal
grant
for the purpose of enhancing second language instruction. Fratney also
is
part of SAGE, Wisconsin's class size reduction program, which allows for
a
15/1 ratio in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Because of these grants
and
some normal staff attrition, we have several openings:

a) a full time mentor teacher. This teacher will help teachers at
Fratney
improve their teaching, focusing particularly on new teachers on staff.

b) full time program coordinator (not be confused with a program
implementor which we currently have on staff). The program coordinator
will specifically administer the five-year federal grant that we
received
focusing on staff development, resource acquisition, and other related
items.

c) a full time bilingual librarian. Our library is completely
computerized
and is probably contains the best Spanish-language children's collection
in the state. Our federal grant will allow us to substantially improve
that collection.

d) kindergarten, first grade and second grade teachers to help reduce
our
class size to 15/1 ratio.

All staff members need to be bilingual in English and Spanish.

The current Fratney staff is extremely committed to both the students
and
the broader community. Staff members have won numerous awards. There is
a
strong spirit of collaboration at the school among both staff and
parents.
These is an active site-based management council. The school has an
agreement with the Board of School Directors and the Milwaukee Teachers
Education Association to allow for hiring of teachers outside of
seniority. Now in it's 13th year of operation the school has a long
history of being connected to the community and school reform in
Milwaukee. It has a very extensive Community Learning Center

Anyone interested in more information about the school, specific job
descriptions of positions mentioned above, or the hiring process please
contact principal Celin Arce at La Escuela Fratney, 3325 N. Fratney
Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212 o 414-264-4840.

For more information via the internet you can email Bob Peterson, a
fifth
grade Fratney teacher, at repmilw at aol.com.

Thanks,

 Bob Peterson
 <REPMilw at aol.com>
 fifth grade teacher
 La Escuela Fratney