Info on private school certification

ajonas

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Jun 27, 2006
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I am looking for some information on how to become a certified private school. I direct a baseball academy in Boca Chica for 14-16 year olds. Some direction would be appreciated...

Thanks.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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ajonas, I gave your question its own thread - it's more likely to get a response this way.
 

MaineGirl

The Way Life Should Be...
Jun 23, 2002
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some help

I was involved in the process for about two months. You should go to the ministry of education in your town, the office responsible for public education. In order to be recognized there are some hoops to jumps through (naturally) and this office will guide you to the right people to talk to. You will have to be open a certain number of days a year, and I am assuming you are educating strictly Dominicans...? take a look at the "learning standards" document found at the ministry of education, it is a long-winded document but it establishes the standards of education for the DR. If you are trying to provide a reasonable foreign equivalent of middle/high school, you need some sort of guiding document or model...I used the Virginia Standards of Learning because they are very concise and too the point, and Virginia public schools are pretty decent. You also need certified teachers that can prove their competency at the ministry of education usually with approved transcripts and certificates. AND I remember having a basketball court being a big deal, like you can't be a school without proper recreation facilities. Think also of the cycle of assessment, and how your students will prove that they know what they know.

The person I know who is in this process is one incredibly busy woman, and my mentor teacher, a principal in Puerto Plata, is also insanely busy with her cause. My advice is find a private school director who will talk to you and mentor you. The two I happen to know are overbooked :).

Feel free to PM me with any questions, sorry I could not be more helpful.
 

LaTeacher

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May 2, 2008
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the process varies from person-to-person. what doesn't in the DR? you only really need a certification for 8th and 12th grades for Las Pruebas Nacionales. And even that is easily bypassed by enrolling those students in the public school for testing purposes only.

when we opened our school 4 years ago, we found that while it was beneficial to have my name on SOME of the papers as a foreigner, it was way easier to get through the process with a dominican jumping through the hoops. it was explained to me later that foreign-run schools are more successful, bring more money and therefore should have a higher "standard". Welcome to education in the DR.

Basically, for a dominican education - you must offer the dominican curriculum - and if you're a bilingual academy, the requirements are not very different (same subjects in english that you'd need in spanish PLUS 4 hours of Spanish language instruction, 3 hours of spanish sociales and civica). You must administer exams at the midterm and end of year and be prepared to turn them in if asked for (the school districts do do occasional reviews/unannounced supervision of private schools). Your teachers must hold at least a teaching certificate (like an associate's degree) or be studying in the university. which means you could, theoretically, hire a bunch of 18 year olds who know nothing, but that's besides the point.

If you want to get certification from another country (ie: the states) you must be certified in the DR before you can be considered for certs from the other country. And the certification process from the states varies depending on the states.
 
Aug 21, 2007
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"If you want to get certification from another country (ie: the states) you must be certified in the DR before you can be considered for certs from the other country. And the certification process from the states varies depending on the states."

This is not 110% correct. If you want your students to receive a diploma from the Dominican Republic, then yes, you need to be certified first there. However, if you are certifying a school whereby the students will receive solely a foreign diploma, then certification from the DR is not necessary.

For example, if you are opening an international school which will receive one of the U.S. regional certifications, your students will graduate with a U.S. diploma, enabling them to continue on with the necessary credentials to enter a U.S. college or university. That accreditation process is comprehensive and lengthy. (This past year, I assisted the International School of Sosua in the process of renewing their accreditation with S.A.C.C.S., the accrediting organization for the southern states.)

When all is said and done, though, any international school in this country is smart obtain dual certifications in order to offer their students a broader base of post graduate options.