St. Maarten Academy: Still Standing
Cul-de-Sac, St. Maarten – Like the majority of the island’s infrastructure, the St. Maarten Academy School was not spared the wrath of Irma, when she made landfall as a dangerous category 5 hurricane on Wednesday September 06, 2017.
According to Principal, drs. Tallulah Baly-Vanterpool, the school suffered severe damage to its physical infrastructure. These included damaged roofs, blown-out windows and doors, flooded classrooms and other loss as a result of looting. Of the thirty-nine classrooms, only eleven suffered minor damages, and will be functional upon resumption of classes on Monday, October 2nd, for our Pre-Exam and Exam classes (Forms 4, 5 and 6), providing electricity has been restored.
~ School slated to reopen for Pre-Exam and Exam classes on October 2nd, providing electricity is restored ~
Additionally, a visit to the school’s campus in the aftermath of Irma, revealed that it was littered with zinc, and fallen trees, leaving pathways all but impassable. However, with the tireless efforts of the facilities’ manager, groundskeepers, teachers, the support staff, cleaning staff, and Marciano Geerd of the Court of Guardianship, and his young volunteers, the campus and classrooms were cleared of debris within five days. That they were able to accomplish this arduous task in such a short timeframe is testament to the commitment of the staff of the St. Maarten Academy. The Principal stated “Although many of our teachers have lost their entire roof or parts of it, spirits are high and they are all here and accounted for and determined to rebuild. I am so proud of our teachers.”
The Board and Management are immensely grateful to the staff for demonstrating “Resilience”. Incidentally, this is the theme chosen for this year’s Virtues project by the school’s Student Care team. While Irma may have scarred our school’s campus, she has done nothing to mar the spirit of a school, which lives by the motto, “Caring, Learning, Achieving and Excelling.” The Board and Management would like to commend each member of staff for remaining committed to the students, and, by extension, the island of St. Maarten.
On Thursday September 28, 2017, the school will be holding a general meeting for all parents and students at 10 a.m. Students are not required to wear uniforms on that day. Its main purpose is to determine their wellbeing, living conditions, as well as to cater for their emotional needs and other support that the school will be offering. These include warm meals; anyone desirous of contributing to this worthy cause is asked to contact the school Principal, via email tallulahbaly@gmail.com.
Kindly note that due to the damage sustained, and construction works currently being undertaken, our fourth, fifth and sixth form students are to report for classes on Monday, October 02, 2017. The target date for the resumption of lower school (Forms 1-3) will be October 16, 2017.
We hope that all parents and students had a safe passage during this time and we are committed as educators to continue to give service to our nation’s youth as we continue to build our island nation, St. Maarten.
