The Netza School

The Netzahualcoyotl Bilingual Primary School for Indigenous Children

An important and special community project in Zihuatanejo is the Netzahualcoyotl Primary School, which is receiving local and international support from local businesses and individuals, tourists, the boating community, and now Rotary International.

The mission of the Escuela Federal Primaria Bilingue “Netzahualcoyotl” is unique and important in the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa region. Prevented from enrolling in one of the 100 local Spanish-speaking public primary schools because of their inability to speak Spanish and often extreme poverty (lack of shoes, decent clothes, money for the required uniforms, etc.), local indigenous (“Indian”) children can attend, for free, this “alternative school”. It was founded in 1994 by current Director Marina Sanchez Hernandez with 2 teachers and 20 children under a tree. Parents and teachers soon got together and built a small courtyard of primitive classrooms in the heart of the local “Colonia Primer Paso” neighborhood overlooking central Zihuatanejo. — Lisa B. Martin

To learn more about this valuable community effort, please visit the official Netza School website at http://www.netzaproject.org