Hurricane Maria slammed the island of Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, swamping towns and displacing residents from their homes. Education Week Assistant Editor Andrew Ujifusa and Deputy Director of Photography Swikar Patel traveled to the U.S. territory to see how educators, students, and their families were coping. They also documented the island’s efforts to reopen their schools. Check out their reporting below:
Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher talks to students at the Julio Selles Sola Elementary School in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the school reopened after Hurricane Maria.
Post-hurricane recovery remains especially difficult outside major urban areas even as Congress and federal officials continue to work out aid packages.
Sacheiry Comeron, 34, gets a kiss from her son, Yomar Lopez, 12, after Comeron secured an interview for a teaching job with the Orange County school district at a reception center set up at the Orlando International Airport to greet evacuees from Puerto Rico. Comeron's résumé includes 10 years of teaching experience, a masters degree in education and certifications to be a principal.
As Puerto Rican families leave their devastated homeland for the mainland, school districts are preparing to take in students and offer jobs to teachers.
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