Alumni/ae Profile

Monica Liang-Aguirre ’87 puts the PDS “way” into practice

When families choose PDS, they are putting their children on a path of discovery and growth that transcends not only the school day but also graduation day. What PDS teaches and nurtures has deep roots and often blossoms in the career choices of its alumni/ae. Here is an example of just one PDS alum who has transplanted much of the philosophy that informs a PDS education into the desert-like soil of Phoenix, Arizona. Monica Liang-Aguirre and her husband, Jesús Aguirre, were Teach For America alumni living in Arizona who saw a critical need for a school where all students, regardless of their cultural background, language proficiency, socio-economic level or academic preparation could be valued, nurtured and then challenged to high levels of achievement. After graduating from PDS, Monica attended Oberlin College. With a mother who is Swiss and a Chinese father, Monica spoke German at home. A student of French at PDS, Monica picked up Spanish during her junior year abroad. Her former English teacher Don Fried recalled that Monica’s Teach for America stint brought her to the South Bronx as the only Spanish teacher for a largely Spanish-speaking population at Jane Adams High School. She met Jesús, who is of Mexican descent, through Teach for America and in 1996, they founded a new charter school, Tertulia Pre-College Community, a member of the National Council of La Raza network of schools that ensure schools serving Latino children help them succeed academically.

Monica (right) is shown with two of her students in Washington, DC.

Phoenix has benefited from a booming economy and low unemployment, yet many of the Latino families from which Tertulia’s students are drawn have not profited. And there is an achievement gap, particularly among Latino students whose first language is not English. This is not only a local issue. Nationwide, Latino students lag not only in high school completion rates, but also in college completion rates.

Tertulia seeks to close that gap. High academic achievement for all students is at the center of its mission: “Tertulia Pre-College Community is a school dedicated to ensuring that all students matriculate into four-year colleges or universities. Every member of our community (students, parents and staff) commit to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that we must meet our mission.”

Signs announce in Spanish and English, “Por estas puertas pasan alumnos en rumbo a la universidad “ (Through these doors pass college-bound students!) And Tertulia is a K-8 only school! But making this vision a reality, when 95% of Tertulia students qualify for free or reduced lunch, has posed significant challenges for school faculty and administration, with constant attention to and refining of the school’s goals and strategies.

Tertulia works towards it mission by maintaining high academic and behavioral expectations for all of its students and offering a specific “college-bound curriculum.” Monica says,” Since most of Tertulia students’ parents did not attend college themselves, the school seeks to instill the drive through exposure to some of the best colleges and universities in the country. Students who qualify travel through Arizona, California, Missouri, Boston and Washington D.C. to visit schools—their trips supported through grants—gaining familiarity with travel as well as exposure to new ideas and places.”

Despite conservative and stringent anti-bilingual legislation in Arizona, Tertulia continues its commitment to the language of minority children and is one of only three schools in the state to offer a dual language program. Students are instructed 50% of the day in Spanish and 50% of the day in English.

Monica’s oldest son, Pablo, is now in kindergarten at Tertulia. “Watching him easily transition between Spanish and English and already reading in both languages confirms the value of bi-cultural and bi-lingual educations. I know he will have a great advantage in the future as a bilingual individual,” she says.

Karen Unger 2/06

Read about dancer and choreographer Kara Tatelbaum '96.
 
Read a profile of TV news producer Michael Milhaven '90.

Read a profile of Lee Miringoff '66, national political pollster.

Class Notes.