Haiti Community Support
PO Box 696
Frederiksted, VI 00841
Tel: +1-340-772-4380

A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Charitable Organization

Administrative

How the Renaissance School is Run

Competent Administration

The key to running a successful Renaissance School program was getting a really competent and trustworthy administrator onto the job in Au Centre. We were very lucky to find a qualified and eager administrator in Israel Montina, 43, a lifetime resident who graduated from high school in Port au Prince, and then obtained advanced study degrees in Accounting and Civil Engineering. He is a founder and president of the Progressive Association of Beaumont, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) concentrating on improving infrastructure, economics and education in the region.

Israel's immediate and effective work has made a lot possible:
• We enabled the one existing school in Au Centre to stay open by subsidizing their teachers' meager salaries.
• In 2004 we provided scholarships for tuition, books, school supplies, and uniforms for 12 Au Centre children otherwise unable to attend school.
• In summer 2005 we rented a building and remodeled it into a school, bought school books and materials and hired five teachers and a Headmaster. The school house renovations were done well, the school is clean and airy…and packed full of students!
• In September 2005 we enrolled 112 more children who had not been able to go to school.
• In September 2006 we enrolled a total of 125 children through the Sponsor A Child[link] program.
• In May 2007 we began construction of a new 8-room school building and community center.

As word spreads through Au Centre, 50 or more additional kids could ask to enroll this fall 2007. With no census data, we don’t know how many kids in the neighborhood have been left behind or where our student population will stabilize. It may be as high as 200 for a few years.

Israel vows he’ll do anything to keep from refusing to enroll a child. During the Spring 2006 semester, our four 10 by 10 foot classrooms had an average of 28 kids crammed into each. For now we’ll keep squeezing!

Our immediate goals for the school include:

• Keep delivering education to the kids.
• Complete construction of our own school, establishing free primary education to all village children, and using the land as a center for classes in community empowerment, illiteracy, sanitation and nutrition.
• Expand the school curriculum to include vocational training.
• Run a community garden on the grounds so parents and kids can help raise food for school lunches.