NON-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT
97
SLPS RANKS 1
ACADEMIC
GROWTH
ST IN
FOR DISTRICTS
OVER 20K
STUDENTS
OVERALL, SLPS RANKS 6TH IN ACADEMIC GROWTH IN FLORIDA
LEARN MORE AT
STLUCIESCHOOLS.ORG
Savior Lutheran Church and Community Church, and numerous
foundations and individuals. Originally faith-based,
it became non-sectarian when it was reorganized two years
ago, but the schools it supports continue to teach the Christian
faith. This year, around 800 donors from across the U.S.
gave $839,794 to Haiti Partners.
“We are fortunate to have communities of support along
with board members in Hershey, Denver, San Francisco, Los
Angeles and elsewhere,” Engle says.
Vero Beach native Gene Waddell visited the school in 2018
and was impressed with the students and parents.
“These elementary age kids would walk for miles across a
mountain and up rutted roads to go to school,” he says. “We
were there during a parent meeting and there were perhaps
50 parents attending and participating!”
Waddell, owner of a local insurance agency, served on the
Indian River County School Board and later helped start Indian
River Charter High School. He sees similarities between
the charter school and what he observed in Haiti.
“The charter high school is a school of choice,” he says.
“All students want to be there and want to learn. Haiti Partners’
school is the same and it shows. The morning opening
ceremony is always the Haiti national anthem and the Lord’s
Prayer.”
He says his support of Haiti Partners is nothing exceptional.
“I don’t think my attitude is different from many others, in
that I will do anything for somebody who is putting forth effort
to help themselves,” Waddell says. “When children walk
for miles to get to school, literally uphill, and parents put in
time and effort to make their children’s lives better, they need
all the help anyone can give them.”
HAITI PARTNERS
The third floor of the second building at the school will accommodate 90
students and six teachers in three classrooms when it is completed in March.
/www.stlucieschools.org
/STLUCIESCHOOLS.ORG
