Apex Kinder-School: Molding Young Minds In Waterhouse

There is nothing more heart-warming to Naomi Levy Cunningham than the touch of a tiny hand, or the childlike enthusiasm expressed in the recital of a poem or the quick answer to a question. Mrs. Cunningham says she is very proud of all 80 students under her watch at Apex Kinder-School in Waterhouse.
Mrs. Cunningham started the school from scratch in 1995 with the assistance of the Cassia Maxfield agency, which is one of 14 Community Development Funds (CDFs), under the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
A CDF is a community based micro enterprise financing agency, that provides credit to micro entrepreneurs with funding received from the Micro Development Agency (MIDA). The Principal says the initiative came after she realized that her niece who had been attending another school, was not doing well.
It turned out, Mrs. Cunningham says, that the only thing the child had learnt was what she had taught her at home, and she therefore decided to tutor her on a full-time basis. Apex was opened on September 24 and started its first class with four students. The entrepreneur says other persons realized that their children were having similar problems and soon the enrollment began to increase.
The key to the school’s success has been the emphasis on phonics, which according to Mrs. Cunningham, is the key to getting the young minds to quickly be able to pronounce words and then to read. “Once they can do the pronunciation of the word, then they master anything.” The youngsters are especially excited about the extra curricular activities, as some students would not have gotten the chance to otherwise participate in such activities. Mrs. Cunningham points out that the institution boasts a wide cross section of students from various segments of the society.
She says that to date, there has been no major challenges and that she and her staff are looking forward to acquiring additional property to accommodate more students, as she has had to turn down applications because of lack of space. Mrs. Cunningham stresses that over-crowding is an important factor and that this is why the school has two teachers for each of the four classes, which begin from pre-school level and stops at kinder 4, with students ranging from ages 2- 5. There are plans to extend to the primary level grade one.
Presently, the curriculum includes Mathematics, Language Arts, Phonics, Reading, Social Studies and Religious Education in collaboration with the Open Bible Church. Extra curricular activities comprise swimming, dancing and computer basics.
Mrs. Cunningham discloses that there are plans to start a karate class and that the children are very interested in the computer classes, but this area lacks adequate funding. She explains that because the school is private, donations are not forthcoming, and thus, the plan to make the institution an independent, government school, a goal which is being worked on.