By Chris Gomez | Little Italy News
Little Italy San Diego is more than just incredible food and sights for visitors; it also offers local families a rich and multicultural educational system for the neighborhood’s children at Washington Elementary, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) Magnet School.
Washington Elementary has been educating the children of the community since 1914, making it the oldest elementary school in Downtown San Diego. Today, through the support of the Little Italy Association (LIA), the Italian Embassy, the Washington Elementary Foundation and the STEAM magnet grant, the school is proud to offer an innovative curriculum that honors traditions and customs of the past while embracing ideas that form the future.
Little Italy provides a safe and cultural backdrop for the school; students can engage in culture and history by learning to play bocce ball in Amici Park or visiting monuments like Piazza Basilone, Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, or the San Diego Firehouse Museum — all within a few blocks from the school.
Additionally, the Little Italy Association loves to include its local elementary school in annual festivals and events. Last October, the students got involved with Little Italy’s annual FESTA!, creating an 8-foot by 8-foot Gesso Italiano (Italian Chalk) drawing on West Date Street. The students will also contribute to April’s iconic Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy by giving the public a sneak peak look into the school’s “Van Go” event debuting this June — an engineering, science and arts exhibition for the children, which will include a movable sculpture race of business sponsored soap-box cars.
Washington Elementary STEAM Magnet in Little Italy provides an incredible educational opportunity for kids and a chance for them to get involved in their community. The school is a historic part of the neighborhood and is significantly important to the residents of Little Italy.
For more information about how to get involved in the Little Italy community or about Washington Elementary, please visit littleitalysd.com.
—Christopher Gomez has been Little Italy’s district manager for the past 15 years. Reach him at [email protected].
