UPDATED: Hurao Academy will be Guam's 7th charter school after council approval (2024)

CHamoru immersion program Chief Hurao Academy will become Guam’s seventh charter school, with the Guam Academy Charter School Council approving Hurao Academy’s charter petition on Thursday night.

The new institution will serve kids Pre-K3 to 5th grade as the Mega’låhen Hurao-CHamoru Academy Charter School and has subleased a spot at the old San Vicente Catholic School campus in Barrigada.

Members of the charter school council voted unanimously to approve the charter petition during a brief meeting Thursday night.

There was an outpour of community support for the petition at a public hearing late last month, and council members broached no discussion before taking the matter to vote this week.

With so much interest, the school may have to take an admissions lottery to fill the 200 student slots they’ve been approved for, said Hurao Academy founder Ann Marie Arceo.

Arceo told the Pacific Daily News Hurao plans to begin teaching its first cohort of kids in CHamoru at the start of the upcoming school year in August, with one class per grade level.

Charter school council Chairwoman Evangeline Cepeda said she would now move to help Hurao Academy officials prepare a budget request to the Guam Legislature, so that the new school can get funding for the 2024 to 2025 school year.

CHamoru immersion

Arceo said that just like the CHamoru immersion program that Hurao Academy has run since 2005, the new charter school will instruct kids fully in CHamoru with “transitional dual immersion.”

That means new kids who come in without any CHamoru skills will learn first in English.

“We’ll teach subject areas in English (while) increasing the learning of CHamoru in those subject areas, as they grow into the months and the years, until we can fully teach the subjects in CHamoru,” said Arceo.

That will prevent kids who can’t speak yet from getting penalized in the classroom.

Outside of the classroom, “the everyday living and directions and, and any kind of activities will be done in CHamoru 100%,” Arceo said.

Everybody will speak CHamoru

It will take a very specific skillset to teach courses at the new charter school, as teachers will need to be both fluent in CHamoru and certified in elementary education.

Luckily, there are already a few staff that Hurao already has on board who will be transitioning into service at the new charter school, Arceo said.

“We have a couple of teachers that we’re gonna hire that are retired teachers, because they speak still. And they’ve been elementary teachers,” she added.

But there are still a few slots available for interested instructors, and new hires will be needed moving forward.

Arceo said there are plans to work with the University of Guam and Guam Community College to help create a pathway for new immersion instructors skilled in both CHamoru and the classroom.

But teachers aren’t the only people who will have to be fluent in fino’ CHamoru, as every staffer that interacts with the kids will need to be able to speak.

“Everybody onboard has to speak CHamoru, even the janitor, everyone, even the gardener, even the maintenance guy, because its school community that we’re going to build, like a family,” Arceo said.

Mom and dad will also have to step up.

“We will have criteria, where we expect the families to commit to coming to the language classes, and being very involved in the school curriculum, so that they can support the children at home,” Arceo said.

She stressed that immersion isn’t just something that happens at school, “we don’t enroll just a child, but we enroll families,” she said.

Parents interested in enrolling their children may send student name, birthdate, grade and contact information to admin@huraoacademy.com.

Those interested in employment can send their letter of interest and resumes to admin@huraoacademy.com.

‘Build in our cultural values’

There are also learning opportunities that go beyond the core curriculum, Arceo said, which Hurao will uniquely be able to provide as a charter school.

“We can have our own curriculum, we can build in our cultural values, and not have to worry about being held back or worry about any shackles,” she said.

One example is exposing the kids to cooking, “if we’re saying we’re taking from an indigenous perspective, then cooking is part of teaching,” something Arceo said would be more difficult in a Guam Department of Education setting.

Other practices like the building of the Belen, or the nativity scene, at Christmas, and the cultural connection surrounding Guam’s Catholic patroness Santa Marian Kamalen, could be options for new students.

Hurao has been aiding GDOE with its ongoing CHamoru immersion curriculum, but moving to a charter school format opens more options, she said.

Getting chartered will also help with financial stability, as it’s been difficult to operate Hurao Academy as a nonprofit for the last 20 years.

“It’s been hard as a nonprofit, trying to provide all the services you want and also build capacity as far as getting teachers in and employing them,” Arceo said.

But the start of the new charter school doesn’t mean the end of the old Hurao Academy program—it will still continue to operate as a nonprofit, offering after school programs, summer courses, and adult closes for those who want to learn CHamoru.

“This charter represents more than just a new educational opportunity; it is a beacon of hope and a symbol of recognition of our generations of mañaina who have fought tirelessly to preserve our language and culture. The approval of this petition affirmed the importance of linguistic and cultural preservation, and gives our children the invaluable gift of learning in their ancestral tongue,” a press release from Hurao stated.

More children go charter

Thursday night’s approval marks the new charter school petition approved in less than a year, as interest and enrollment at local charter schools grow.

Mount Carmel School in Hågat got approval to convert to a charter school last September, while the Business and Technology Academy Charter School’s petition was approved last month, with plans to also move into the old San Vicente Catholic School campus.

Hurao Academy will raise the current maximum enrollment of charter schools on island up to about 2,650, based on enrollment caps and plans at other schools.

That shift in student enrollment comes as the public school system sees lower enrollment numbers and moves to consolidate or decommission school campuses.