Together we can finish building Hope Academy

In February of 2019, Hope Academy opened its doors to 16 kindergarten age girls from Hogar Miguel Orphanage and the rural village of Aguacate in Guatemala who were told by the public-school system that there was “no space for them.” Since then, Hope Academy has extended its reach to almost 70 girls from some of the most underserved parts of Guatemala. It provides each of these uniquely talented, gifted, creative girls with a one-of-a-kind STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) driven education in a bilingual English/Spanish environment to make sure each and every one of them has the skills they need to thrive in a world that has, for far too long, overlooked them and their families.

The COVID-19 pandemic only amplified the already challenging lives of the students and families served by Hope Academy. It caused food scarcity, aggressive poverty, and heightened systems of domestic violence within the households of many students. Throughout these challenging times, Hope Academy provided its students and their families with ongoing food support and some of the highest quality ongoing education in the region by creating capacity for effective distance learning in a space that frequently does not even have running water, yet alone internet signal.

Now, as classes begin to return in-person with students hungry to learn after two long years of isolation, Hope Academy is Building Up. With your help, Hope Academy can finish developing its campus and create space for up to 150 girls from preschool through sixth grade to learn, play, grow, and bloom into the people they dream of becoming. The entire project will involve the construction of an outdoor sports court for recess and gym class, a second floor to the main building which will include four additional classrooms and dormitories for up to 10 girls from difficult family situations to board on location and focus more full time on their studies, and first year salaries for four new English language teachers and two House Parents. These new additions to the campus of Hope Academy will finally allow it to be a state-of-the-art, bilingual learning center capable of Building Up girls in Guatemala for generations to come.