Respect and Kindness Change a Young Student’s Life

Arbor Christian Academy | Dominican Republic

“I don’t feel left out. This place is my second home,” shares 13-year-old Emmanuel of his school, Arbor Christian Academy (ACA) in the Dominican Republic (DR).

Emmanuel has severe dyslexia and had been subjected to bullying in his previous schools. He was falling further behind students in his age group.

He says ACA, “gives parents like my mom, an option of education that she can trust.” The school’s core values that include being Relational: serving others with respect, generosity and love and Rooted: wanting students to be grounded in academic knowledge as well as Biblical wisdom, have been a very good fit for him. Now Emmanuel is reading books, has many friends and positive energy to play and interact with his classmates and teachers.

ACA has classes in English and Spanish and the library has over 1,000 books. They offer classes from kindergarten up to 6th Grade and each class has both a North American lead teacher and a teaching assistant from the DR. The school became part of the TeachBeyond family in 2017 and has grown from 14 students to 88 in 2022.

A big priority for the school is the need to find a new site and move quickly. The biggest reason for the move is that it is illegal to have a school connected to or beside a church in the DR. “The only reason we have been allowed to remain, is because we have a plan (to move),” says School Co-Founder and 5th Grade teacher, Ellen Kujawski. They are currently considering 3 possible sites and have started a capital campaign to raise $ 500,000.00 for the purchase and will need an additional $ 2 million to build. They have also secured a matching grant of $ 250, 000.00. The prayer and goal is to have everything finished for the 2024-25 school year.

As it stands, they are at capacity in their present building. The school offices are in the corners of their classrooms. However, no matter if they are big or small in school size, their mission remains constant: to “equip the mind and educate the heart to impact the nation.” Listen as Emmanuel shares about this transformation in a short video.

Pray for Arbor Christian Academy

• For staffing changes and leadership transitions that will be happening particularly over the summer. For a complete list of openings at the school, check out the job opportunity board.
• For their upcoming move. For wisdom in decision making and for the funds to come in to enable the new site to be purchased and built on. There has been a big shift in the DR against Evangelical Christian schools and the sooner the school moves to a separate, legal space, the better. You can donate here.