Land purchase for ownership of the school

Each year the students at ACES take time to reflect on what they have learned and where they would like to see themselves in the future.  This year we held an "Open Day" seminar where we invited the community to come see the community of the future and learn what these children envisioned for their future.  Each child had to present a project to our visitors explaining what their vision for the future was and what steps would be necessary to accomplish this goal.

By going through this process on a yearly basis we teach the children how to become productive leaders in the community.  Teaching each child to have a vision and an action plan as to how they will achieve their goals for the future is an important aspect in achieving success.  Each year it is interesting to see who these children see themselves becoming when they are grown.

ACES as an organization has a vision also, as we continue to grow our vision statement states: "To see ACES as a thriving child friendly campus providing quality education at the Primary level.  A campus where children can establish an academic base to better their lives in the future, thereby impacting our community in a positive manner" 

One of the future goals for ACES is to enlarge our campus and provide larger classrooms for our students.  Currently our classrooms are appromimately 10' X 22'  which can be a bit confining.  Our vision is to have all classrooms be at least 20' X 20' which will provide enough space for the 15 students we plan for each class.  

Currently our mortgage is almost paid off and the funding of this project will continue to improve and grow the campus.  ACES receives no government funding so all improvements must be made through the contributions of others like yourself.  We have a vision and a plan, please help us make it a reality.  

ACES continues to grow every year, this year we have 115 students and 10 teachers on staff.  Our goal for the coming year is to again expand our facility.  Within the next two years, the vision is to raise the one story wooden structure, which houses 5 classrooms and to construct 3 larger classrooms under the current structure, out of concrete.  Living in the tropics the necessity of concrete structures makes itself more than apparent.  The maintenance on a wooden structure is a constant.  You are constantly fighting the elements, hurricanes, rotten wood, termites and the sun and salt continuously erroding and fading your paint.  

Within the next two months we will connect to the town's sewer system, funds were raised for this project through our annual Gala and Art Action.  Next month, the Belize Red Cross is helping the school obtain solar panels and a cistern system to help defray our monthly utility costs. By this time next year our mortgage on the school will be paid in full, so the annual deficit will be much less. As a non-profit organization ACES operates solely on the small tuition collected from the student's parents or sponsors and the donations from individual and corporate donors. Funding from the government of Belize is still not available although we have applied for government grants.

The world beyond the boarders of free public schools is so much different.  Often I relate the story of having a $450,000.00 BZD budget to operate this school with tuition bringing in only $200,000.00 BZD. People will give a quizzical look and I respond, "Yes that means we have to go out and raise $250,000.00 BZD every year just to keep the doors open."  Their response is always,"How and why do you continue to do it?"  My answer is always the same, "We do it for the love of the children and by the Grace of God go I..."