Fond St. Jacques Primary School – Saint Lucia

Fond St. Jacques Primary School is a Kindergarten through 6th grade primary school in Saint Lucia with 750 enrolled students.  The students come from some of the poorest households on the island.  The area was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Tomas and the funds slated for school materials were redirected for cleaning up the damaged schools. 

Fourteen people who lived in the area died in the hurricane, one of whom was a 6th grader at Fond St. Jacques. Teachers are restricted by limited resources resulting in a learning environment where children are being ‘talked at’ rather than being engaged through books, and other materials.

The school does not have a library other than 200 books that are housed in a single classroom.  Only 50 of the 200 books are owned by the school.  The other 150 books belong to the Peace Corps Volunteer who works with the school.  The International Alliance for Child Literacy (IACL) is in the process of establishing a library which will include both picture, and simple chapter books. The IACL is also working with the administration to provide teachers with supplies, culturally relevant teaching materials, and classroom decor.

Read more about our programs in Saint Lucia including our Transforming Classrooms Program on our website.

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