Genesis Academy students will attend the HEART/NSTA Trust Commencement Ceremony at the Jamaica Conference Center. Both teachers, Center Director and Founder Pauline Beaumont and Principal Stacey Ann Newman, are also in attendance.
Kingston, Jamaica – Since its founding in 2003, Genesis Academy has empowered and provided opportunities through skills development and education to students with a wide range of disabilities and learning challenges.
The institution’s pinnacle came last year when its students passed the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Education (CSEC) exam for the first time. The results have been so positive that another student will be taking her City & Guilds English exam this year. This is also a first for the Academy.
“We also run CSEC English and 2 out of 3 students passed. The HEART/NSTA Trust graduation ceremony just ended last December and our students were invited and won awards. ” said Genesis Academy Principal Stacey Ann Newman.
“Based on the nature of the students, we’re starting with English… We were thinking of doing both English and math, but this is new, so we just did English,” Newman said of OBSERVER. told ONLINE.
Genesis Academy is a private Christian educational institution that began nearly 20 years ago in the living room of founder and director Pauline Beaumont.
The institution caters to students with various disabilities such as autism, slow learners, Down syndrome, global developmental delay and cerebral palsy among others. In addition to the diagnosis, some students may have physical challenges, attention deficit disorders, dyslexia, neurological disorders, and behavioral problems.
Still, Neumann said it’s important to expose them to vocational skills and work experience.
“Our approach to our curriculum is eclectic because we incorporate the Ministry of Education and Accelerated Christian Curriculum. And our school is also skill-based, so our students have two skills. should have been preparing food, but the results had just come out and all the students passed.
“We have a work experience program and one of our past students came back and made us part of the NCB Make a Wish Foundation. and just received a check from one of our past students who wanted to give back,” she added.
In addition, students sew items such as cushions, participate in jewelry making and hairdressing. Genesis Academy also has a growing athletics program that offers students opportunities to participate in school sports activities and Special Olympics.