refugio11.jpgThis school has requested materials and labor for the construction of two classrooms to be completed by the end of the summer. Nuestra Señora del Refugio is 14 years old and currently occupies eight classrooms, three constructed by the government, three constructed with outside funding, and the other two funded and constructed by parents of the schoolchildren. Its 368 students range from preschool age to 9th grade, and even with 8 classrooms, half the children must attend classes in the morning and the other half in the afternoon (which I can imagine becomes quite a punishment during the warmer months).

This school does not charge tuition, and it is run by Father Jesus Samarron of the Guadalupan Eucharistic Missionaries of San Jose. As you can tell from these photos, the two classrooms will be constructed atop two others, and will serve preschool and first grade children.