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Jamaica’s Liberty Academy doubling capacity

Third of mixed school’s population will be special needs students after expansion

Kingston, Jamaica – Liberty Academy will more than double its cohort of students with special needs come early next year.

This will increase the proportion of students with special needs educated in the same school with typically developing children to one-third of the population.

“It has always been part of our vision as a school from the beginning to create an institution to students with varying abilities,” said Suzanne Williams, Principal of Liberty Academy. “It is a real joy to watch these students through care and stimulation find niche areas they can excel in.”

“You can see it in their physical demeanour, once they walked with their heads down and now they carry themselves different with their heads high. We’re into transforming lives.”

The school has for years focused on including children with autism, downs syndrome, dyslexia, cerebral palsy and hearing impairments within the same educational space for typically developing children.

The aim is to enhance the performance of the entire student population through interaction and sometimes integration in the classroom.

“We offer our programme in two ways: we have self-contained classrooms; and you have children who are integrated into the regular programme, and they are performing well,” said Suzanne Williams, Principal of Liberty Academy. “We try to get both sets of children to interact, so they are mixed during physical education, music and a variety of classes.”

Now, with funding from Digicel Foundation, the school is adding two classrooms for special needs as well as refurbishing bathrooms and other buildings to allow wheelchair access.

The expansion and refurbishment of the school also includes improvements to flooring, electrical wiring, fencing, and roofing as well as the provisioning of a fire alarm system.

Additionally, Digicel Foundation has provided training to the school’s teachers to improve their teaching skills.

“This has worked very well,” said Williams.

Located on Hope Road, the Liberty Academy is an independent institution founded in 1994 that aims to create a balanced environment for special needs and typically developing children at the pre, junior and high school levels.

Liberty Academy in Jamaica with teachers and students.
Judine Hunter, Special Needs Programme Manager, Digicel Foundation, with teachers and students of the Liberty Academy. The Academy is currently undergoing construction and renovations through the Foundation and will we officially opened next year as a Centre of Excellence.

South Florida Caribbean News

The SFLCN.com Team provides news and information for the Caribbean-American community in South Florida and beyond.

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