The African Cultural and Development  Association (ACDA) is expanding its early Childhood Education Programme with the addition of a Primary One class this September. According to a release from the organization, building on its success over the past three years, the class will be of 15 students for the time being, and four students have already registered for the upcoming school term.
ACDA’s educational institution has a mixed population of African, Amerindian and Indian students, and the unit is divided into an Early Childhood Centre and a Post Primary School manned by two retired teachers and 12 volunteer teachers, the release stated. The institution provides academic, social, cultural and life skills classes.
The institution’s Early Childhood Centre was designed to serve young persons through an Early Childhood Programme into primary school, the release stated, and it was structured to equip them with the relevant skills for a successful life by fostering a very young value system and solid academic base.
To achieve this, individual attention is paid to each child and the organization subsidizes the education needs of each student. Selection is driven via needs and competitive forces, the organization noted.
The institution’s infrastructure has been undergoing new upgrades to meet its new needs, and among areas of improvement the group is addressing are additional learning aides, more recreational spaces, visual tools to enhance learning, as well as Leap Frog computers.
The institution, whose school board boasts a list of distinguished educators and leaders, was launched several years ago as conceptualized by Egerton `Stan’ Cooke and supported by Violet Jean-Baptiste, and the educational process began by the provision of ‘lessons’, literacy classes and ultimately a post primary school.
Chairman of the Board is Oswald Kendall, the first principal of President’s College. The board also includes Eric Phillips, Shaun Caleb, Letitia Lake, Tamika Fitzpatrick, Aisha Jean-Baptiste and Loraine Welch. The patron of the school is Winston Murray and Violet Jean-Baptiste is its main financial contributor.
The institution boasts an active Parent Teachers Association (PTA) which is a key agent in events such as fund-raisers, school sports, school tours and curriculum development.
The school is compliant with the curriculum and educational guidelines of the Ministry of Education, the release stated.
Registration for the new school term continues from Monday to Friday from 9:00hrs to 16:00hrs and additional information could be obtained by calling telephone number 225-8420 or by visiting the school at 9 Thomas Lands, next to Queen’s College.