Freire At Queens High School Of Teaching
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate
integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present
system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom,
the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with
reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their
world.” Paulo Freire
“It Takes A Community To Change A Community.”
The Freire Small Learning Community is named after the Brazilian
educator, philosopher, and activist Paulo Freire. Our community seeks to
effect change wherever we go. We see our community as a family or
village as the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
We do all we can in our village to ensure that our students reach
academic success. This is evidenced by the deep commitment that our
teachers have toward academic excellence. We place a strong emphasis on
College Readiness and this can be seen in our classrooms through the
implementation of a college ready curriculum across all subject areas.
Our Grade Level Teams host DEF Jam and Flocabulary competitions to get
the students prepared for their PSAT’s and SAT’s by learning the
vocabulary of the these exams. Freire has its own College office where
students can go and research colleges or just do some homework.
The Freire Community is known for its family friendly environment this
is evidenced by our annual Freire Family Fun Night, Freire Family
Curriculum Day, and Career Day when we open our classrooms to the family
members of our students for them to see the work that is being done by
their children in every subject area. Career Day is an opportunity for
family and friends of Freire to come in and speak to our students about
the different careers and opportunities that are in the real world.
The Books & Bagels Peer Tutoring Program and Algebra Peer Tutoring
Program are designed to offer academic interventions for students
experiencing challenges in their subject area classes. The students are
tutored by other students who are experts helping their peers.
In addition to our strong emphasis on academics we also have many fun
community wide events and activities to keep the students engaged. This
is just an idea of our events and activities: Poetry Slam, Decades Dance
Off, Freire Carnival, and Freire Barbeque. These events help our
students to gain Freire Spirit and understand what it really means to be
a Freirean.