The Good Samaritan Center
Located on San Antonio's West Side, the Good Samaritan Center became an anchor site for early bilingual education programs. Research and teaching initiatives addressed mental health, language access, and culturally responsive care.
This community-based organization played a key role in shaping early approaches to language access and education policy. Its partnership with local educators, including Trinity faculty and alumni, reflects how bilingual education efforts were rooted in community needs and culturally responsive care before federal mandates.
Carol Wright Folbre:
The Good Samaritan Center Early Childhood Bilingual Education Program: Documentation Techniques
Carol Wright Folbre’s Master of Arts in Teaching thesis, The Good Samaritan Center Early Childhood Bilingual Education Program: Documentation Techniques (1986), is an important document for understanding Trinity University’s early involvement in bilingual education. Her work documents the bilingual preschool program at the Good Samaritan Center, detailing classroom structure, language development strategies, and culturally responsive teaching methods. The thesis not only preserves a snapshot of grassroots bilingual education in San Antonio’s West Side during the 1980s but also illustrates how Trinity students and faculty applied the emerging federal and state bilingual policies in community-based settings.
For this research project, Folbre’s thesis provides both historical context and a primary example of the collaboration between Trinity and local organizations that shaped the university’s bilingual teacher preparation efforts.