In Puerto Rico, 673 (44%) public schools closed due to lack of student enrollment between 2007 and 2018 (Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley et al., 2020), 184 of them in 2017, the year of Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Abandoned school buildings are for sale or lease across the island. Our sponsor, La Goyco, is a non-profit organization that has successfully acquired and repurposed a vacant school building into a community center. The goal of this project was to conduct interviews with La Goyco and similar organizations to assist communities who want to rescue their community’s abandoned school. We created a deep case study of our sponsor La Goyco, a general guide website for those who are looking to repurpose a vacant school building, and started a network of community centers to help form collective action.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Am, Tiana
• Stilwagen, Christian
• Skinner, Noah
• Chantre, Nicholas

Subject

• Project-Based Learning
• Learning
• Community
• Infrastructure
• Innovation
• Well-Being
• Culture

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-050222-114215
• 66966

Parola chiave

• Community Center
• Abandoned
• La Goyco
• Puerto Rico
• General Guide
• School Closures

Advisor

• Servatius, Brigitte
• Sphar, Jefferson Alex

Year

• 2022

Center

• San Juan, Puerto Rico Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• Taller Communidad La Goyco

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
• 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
• 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Date created

• 2022-05-02

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Rights statement

• In Copyright