FROM an aftercare facility catering to all of five children to a private school that takes students from as early as 18 months old through to the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

Such has been the growth of Creative Kids Learning Academy (CKLA), which, in its 10 years of existence, has strived to create and maintain an environment “characterised by caring teachers, stability and learning through making choices”.

The expansion of the school, which now meets the learning and development needs of just over 100 students, is something of which principal and founder Haedi-Kaye Holmes, is most proud. In a recent interview with Career & Education, the 36-year-old recalled how she came to establish the school and the inspiration behind the name.

“When I returned from Canada, I started an after-school programme geared at assisting students with homework as well as engaging them in fun and creative activities. So with that in mind, the name ‘Creative Kids’ seemed a fitting choice,” said Holmes, who holds a first degree in psychology from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

She added that she had been led to open the doors to the school in a bid to indulge her love of children and seeing them succeed.

“My passion to help people and work with kids prompted me to start the school. I wanted to make a significant impact on the lives of children and education is an ideal medium to do so,” said the woman, who is herself the mother of two girls, both of whom attend Creative Kids.

She credits much of the institution’s success so far, to the opportunity it gives children to express themselves and a refusal to put limits on their abilities.

“The long-ago philosophy of ‘children should be seen and not heard’ is quite the opposite of what we enforce at CKLA. Children are encouraged to have a voice. They are taught to express themselves always, but respectfully,” Holmes told Career & Education. “Setting limits on their education is also unheard of at CKLA. We always encourage them to strive for excellence. A child will learn as much as we teach, therefore, there is absolutely no limit on education.”

There is little wonder that the school has adopted this approach given its motto — ‘Building brighter futures’ — and goals that include:

* to provide a secure and happy environment for children;

* to work to ensure that children receive a balanced and thorough education;

* to produce well-mannered, well-educated, disciplined students;

* to have parents who are not only satisfied, but also involved and committed to the CKLA vision; and

* to educate students to embrace diverse cultures.

The institution’s small class sizes and Holmes’ own hands-on approach to teaching and management; are also features which the young principal credits for Creative Kids’ achievements.

“(There is the recognition that) each grade is a stepping stone (for the students) and so the foundation for success is laid at each step. So it is all like a puzzle; each grade is a piece of the puzzle that is completed at grade six,” she said. “This is their first little journey. We are preparing them for the next journey which is high school and the adolescent years.”

The school is committed to improving its operations and the learning outcomes for students each year.

“My philosophy is that I want to make it better each year and so I am never satisfied with the success of the previous year. I am never satisfied with where we are. I am always looking to improve,” said Holmes, adding that the fact that she had built the institution one grade at a time over the years had helped to engender that approach to running the institution which now has 10 grades — Nursery two; Kindergarten three; Kindergarten four; Kindergarten five; and grades one through six.

“I learnt (along the way) what I wanted for the grade two the following year, and then what I wanted for grade three the following year (and so on). So it was small steps,” she noted.

Then there is the support of what she described as an active and committed Parent-Teachers’ Association, which has been integrally involved with the evolution of the school over the last decade.

“My PTA is really very exceptional. They are the ones who outfitted the computer lab. They are the ones who put air conditioning units in our classrooms. They helped towards the (recent) purchase of the property in terms of raising money,” Holmes said.

And the school is making its mark when it comes to academics, relying on the Abeka curriculum as well as that of the Ministry of Education.

“Abeka has a strong phonics curriculum and so you find that the kids have an excellent foundation for reading phonetically. The books are in colour and the concepts are repeated daily so kids have a firm grasp on what is being taught, especially in mathematics, which is usually a problem area. Our kids do exceptionally well in math. It is usually our highest average in the GSAT,” Holmes boasted.

“(The schools in which the students gain places include) Campion, Wolmer’s, Immaculate, St Andrew, and St George’s as well. We have quite a few going to those schools and those are the schools that, of course, everybody wants to go to. Last year, a student earned a Government scholarship and in all subject areas, our overall average was 91 and above for each subject in the GSAT,” she added.

The principal was quick to add that it took effort to realise those types of outcomes and not only from the teachers, but also from the students themselves.

“You have to get the kids to want to work. It is not customary for kids to score 98 per cent in all subjects; it is not the norm. What I find is that even in my grade six class, an average achiever will push themselves to work. So, by the time, they tell you, ‘Miss, I am going to get a hundred per cent’ or ‘I am going to get a Government scholarship’, (you can believe it). They are the ones who are motivating themselves; I can only do so much,” she said.

But CKLA — which has a staff complement of 25, including three administrative workers, 11 full-time teachers, seven part-time teachers, three ancillary staff members, and a security guard — has been holding its own in areas other than academics.

“We have two national swimmers attending the school — one of them is my daughter — and they will be representing Jamaica in the upcoming CARIFTA Games,” Holmes noted.

At the same time, CKLA prides itself on not being about ‘all work and no play’. It’s the reason they offer students the chance to participate in a range of activities, including football, netball, basketball and ballet. Friday is club day at the school, and students get the opportunity to select from a range of clubs they wish to join. The list includes Art, 4H, Drama, Dance, Netball, and Basketball. They can also join the Brownies.

Among the subject areas in which students are instructed are communication skills, social studies and science, in addition to music, computer studies, art, Spanish, and physical education.