Every school day in Sayulita, the students, teachers, and parents of Escuela Primaria Damian Carmona arrive to find their school — and the streets surrounding it — in need of attention that shouldn’t be necessary.

Bags of garbage. Piled refuse. Waste left directly outside the perimeter wall of a school that serves the children of this community.

This week, the school went public with a message that deserves to be heard: please stop.

What’s Happening

The school recently shared photos showing bags of garbage dumped along the exterior school wall — directly beneath signs that read “Prohibido tirar basura / No Littering” and “Respeta la escuela / Respect the School.”

Among the waste, staff found documentation bearing local addresses — confirming that this isn’t a problem caused by tourists passing through. It’s coming from within the community itself.

In their own words:

“Niños, maestros y padres de familia trabajamos diariamente para mantener nuestra escuela y sus alrededores limpios y en buenas condiciones. Sin embargo, seguimos encontrando situaciones como esta, que afectan la imagen y el entorno de nuestros estudiantes.”

Children, teachers, and parents work daily to keep our school and its surroundings clean and in good condition. However, we keep finding situations like this, which affect the image and environment of our students.

A Respectful, Clear Request

The school’s message is not angry — it’s dignified. They’re not pointing fingers at individuals. They’re making a civic appeal, and doing it with grace.

“Con mucho respeto, hacemos un llamado a la conciencia y colaboración de todos para evitar tirar basura en el perímetro escolar y ayudar a mantener limpio este espacio que pertenece a nuestros niños y niñas.”

With great respect, we call on the conscience and collaboration of everyone to avoid dumping trash in the school perimeter and to help keep clean this space that belongs to our boys and girls.

And they close with a line worth carrying with us: “Mantener limpia la escuela también es educar con el ejemplo.” Keeping the school clean is also teaching by example.

Why This Matters for Sayulita

A school is one of the most important community spaces there is. It’s where the next generation of Sayuliteños are learning — not just reading and math, but what kind of community they belong to and what it means to take care of shared spaces.

When adults dump trash outside a school, children see it. They learn from it.

Sayulita’s identity is built in part on its beauty — the murals, the beach, the natural landscape. But beauty takes maintenance. It takes people choosing, every day, to treat shared spaces with the respect they deserve.

What You Can Do

If you live or work near Escuela Primaria Damian Carmona, please make sure trash is disposed of properly and not left along the school perimeter.

If you see someone dumping trash there, a calm, friendly reminder can go a long way.

And if you have children in Sayulita’s schools, consider talking with them about this — not to alarm, but to open a conversation about civic responsibility and what it means to care for the town we share.

The school has asked. Now it’s our turn to listen.

¡Gracias, comunidad!