Geography School - Perry Elementary
Dateline: 02/21/00Perry School is located in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania (population 102,000). From the outside, it appears to be a typical elementary school but on the inside it's the country's first geography theme-based elementary school. Geography is integrated into the K-6 curriculum on a continual basis.
There are a significant number of immigrants and English as a second language students among Perry's 500 students but that doesn't stop Principal Ed Groode from making sure that every second grader can name all of the countries of Africa and South America.
Perry was officially declared a geography theme-based school by the Erie School District on May 3, 1997. Since that time, the school has been filled with maps, flags and murals representing the world. Instead of a computer lab (computers are located in each classroom), Perry sports a geographic learning lab complete with a plethora of globes, maps and cultural objects from around the world.
One-third of Perry's 30 teachers have taken the summertime geography teacher training sponsored by the NCGE and Pennsylvania Geographic Alliance.
Geography at Perry isn't just it's own subject, it's part of all subjects from math to reading to science. For instance, a sample writing prompt from the 5th and 6th grade reads, "If you could design a new flag for your city, state or country, what symbols would you use?"
Perry School also runs the district's elementary school geography championship. The school district sends the winner to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.
In all, Perry School is a great model of integrating geographic education into primary education; hopefully Principal Groode's idea will spread around the country.
- Stop by my Geographic Education & Teaching Geography category of links for great online resources.
- Visit the Perry Elementary School site. (Much of the site hasn't been created yet.)
- Try GoErie.com for more information about Erie, Pennsylvania.
- For more information about elementary school education, stop by Beth Lewis' About.com site for Elementary School Educators.
Articles by Date | Articles by Topic
