Little Benjamin Christian School

Founded in 1998 by Ann Pearson, the Little Benjamin Christian school has grown to serve over three hundred children and their families. The Director, Lic. Alexandra Mendoza and the staff of teachers are all mature Christian women who minister to the children and their families both in and out of class. The school is certified by the Nicaragua government and complies with all curriculum requirements as well as offering Christian education and computer lab. The school is funded by what the parents of students are able to contribute as well as donations from child sponsors. Parent contributions equal roughly 70% of the operating cost of the school with donors contributing the rest. It is a healthy balance, everyone doing what they are able for the good of the children. The parents have the dignity of contributing to their children’s education while donors are blessed by participating in a program that provides high quality Christ centered primary education in a safe environment. It is a true team effort by all parties involved.

Each year a group of children are selected in coordination with local pastors from the poorest families in the neighborhood to attend on a full scholarship. These scholarships are granted on need alone and do not depend on church affiliation. We are very happy to be able to offer quality Christian education to boys and girls who otherwise probably would not even be able to attend school via the scholarship program. For the 2008 we are planning to open a high school on the same site. We will start with only the first three grades of high school at first and add year by year until we are offering all five years.

As with the elementary school, the goal is to have ten percent of the high school students in the scholarship program. If you can help this effort by sponsoring a child please see the “Sponsorship” link.

Arco de Bronce Elementary School

The new Arco de Bronce Elementary school is open in Granada. The name means the bronze bow and is taken from Psalm 18:34. At present it offers only preschool with 21 children enrolled but our prayer is that with government approval we can start offering primary school classes next year. Ann helps the Director a couple of days a week teaching English to the children and filling in wherever she is needed. Most of the children come from the poorest homes and attend at no cost but other children’s parents pay a small tuition fee ($4.15/mo) for their children. We want to establish this policy from the beginning since the long term goal is a Christian Primary School that is partially self supporting. We always reserve space for a number of children from the poorest homes to receive full scholarships and help with school supplies. This model has worked well in Tipitapa. Before next year we need to complete two additional classrooms to make space for new classes.

Colegio Arco de Bronce,Granada

Director: Patricia Rodgriguez