Christel House Jamaica aims to assist young

students in St. Catherine to become well-deserving members of society, though a

school being constructed in Twickenham Park.

The local charity organisation, an arm of

Christel House International, is to provide tuition-free quality education and

ancillary services to students, aged three to 19, living in St. Catherine.

The school, which is now under

construction, will be based on the Christel House International model, which is

renowned for its robust education, nutrition, healthcare, and character and

career development programmes.

Chairman of the Board, Christel House Jamaica, Sally Porteous, said that the tuition-free institution will provide essential resources to cater to the social and emotional needs of its students, which are critical to healthy development.

“There is no charge to the students who

will be coming to Christel House Jamaica. We are targeting families and

children who have a great difficulty in being able to pay for tuition, books,

uniform, food and transportation. That is the group we will be targeting,” she indicated.

The institution will provide breakfast,

lunch and an afternoon snack, as well as transportation services for children

living far distances from the school.

In addition to providing meals, uniforms

and textbooks, the school will also provide counselling services for its

students to assist children who suffer from psychological and other emotional

issues.

Porteous explained that it’s a critical

part of the Christel House structure, which aims to provide a holistic

education.

“We are basing everything on the love and

care they will get here. We recognise the fact that children that come from

certain home environments have difficulty with a lot of things… they are not

loved enough by both mother and father, so we are going to give them a lot of

love and understanding,” she told JIS News.

 “We

have psychologists and social workers on board, so the emotional well-being of

the child will be put first, and once the child’s emotional well-being is taken

care of, we know there will be no difficulty in them learning,” Porteous added.

The Chairman further noted that the

Christel House education model is strategically designed to prepare and

increase students’ chances of obtaining a tertiary education.

The school’s full enrolment capacity is 840

from the kindergarten level up to grade 12.

Porteous said the school, which is being

built on 10.4 acres of land, is a valuable addition to the community.

“The Spanish Town area is short of schools.

It is an area that was pointed out to us by the Government because it had the

right amount of land. We wanted to have at least 10 acres of land. There is to

be a nice playfield and space. We had looked all around Kingston and other

areas in Clarendon and even Manchester, but we thought this was a great spot,”

she asserted.

The Government will provide a long-term

lease for the land on which the school will be built. Christel House is

constructing facilities on the property at its own expense.

Principal of Christel House Jamaica, Alecia

Francis, noted that the school will provide invaluable educational

opportunities for children in the area.

“We will provide state-of-the-art education

for these children. We cater to the whole child, so we have a nutrition

programme and character-based education in restorative discipline. We also

provide a safe space for them to blossom and become what they want to be and

maximise their potential. The school will serve children in communities across

St. Catherine,” she said.

Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief

Financial Officer, Christel House International, Joseph Schneider, told JIS

News that this will be the eighth Christel House school to be established

worldwide.

Others are located in the United States,

Mexico, South Africa and India.

Schneider declared Christel House Jamaica

will use the national curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education.

Students will participate in all national

standardised examinations and assessments comprising the National Assessment

Programme.

 “In all of our schools, we focus on the local national education requirements and then supplement those requirements with additional focus on those areas outside of the curriculum, including character development, leadership development and a lot in the way of career planning and development, starting from the kindergarten level,” he explained.

— JIS