History of Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Primary School
In 1993, Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Primary School was established in partnership and support of Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 1 Wilson Street, Belize City Belize. It is a school grounded on Biblical principles and is managed by the Belize Union of Seventh-day Adventist. Ephesus school was instituted to prepare boys and girls to make a positive difference and impact their world for Jesus Christ, and from a genuine need to facilitate parents who wanted their children to obtain a christian education but was turned away from our sister school on the south side of Belize City due to overcrowding. Additionally, it facilitated disadvantage children in the immediate area who may not have been afforded the privilege of attending a school in this area. Therefore, with a purpose in mind, the church brethren on the north side of the city facilitated this process and made available an existing concrete structure measuring fifteen feet by thirty feet that was on the church compound and was initially used once weekly for the Children’s Sabbath School. After adopting its name from its partnering church and under the leadership of Ms. Anna Slusher, the door of Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Primary School was opened. Initially five children were enrolled and by the afternoon session there were six children, all from non Adventist homes. By the end of the week enrolment increased to twenty children. As the news spread about the opening of the school, more people from the community wanted to enrol their children and by the end of the school year there were forty-six students enrolled at Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Primary school with classes ranging from Infant I to Standard IV. The need for another teacher arose and thus Ms. Joan Gladden came on board. An additional building was built to facilitate the increasing enrolment. This new building accommodated Infant I to Standard II while the initial building accommodated Standard III and IV. Evangeline Gillett served faithfully up until 1995 after which she went on to serve in another institution within the organization. Carol Flowers then took up the mantle of serving as the school’s principal along with a staff of four teachers, one of which was being paid by the church along with funds from the school. There were three multi-grade classes, Standard’s V and VI, III and IV and Infant I and II, where she was the class teacher while serving as principal. Later in 1998 she enlisted the help of her daughter, Ms. Sherrilyn Flowers, a graduate with an Associate’s Degree, whom she trained and gave a stipend out of her own pocket to teach Infant I. She embarked on a journey for the advancement of the school, however, was confronted with the challenges of burglary and flooding when it rained. Along with her staff they made a plan to alleviate the burglary problem by replacing and securing the windows. She also enlisted the help of Mr. Osborn Collins, a parent and church elder at the time, to help raise the floor to alleviate the flooding problem. Next, she contacted Mr. Harry Flowers and Mr. Kirk Spencer who saw her vision of expansion and along with other members of the church donated their finances and time. They worked tirelessly to place an additional board structure at the top of the existing concrete building in order to accommodate a growing student body that was now boasting one hundred fifty-four students. During 2002-2003 she continued with her school improvement plan and approached her then neighbour Mr. Moustafa Toure, the coordinator of the Schools-Computers Wide Area Network Project (SWAN) for the Ministry of Education and after she secured a room. He was able to furnish the room with work stations, a set of twenty computers and internet access. This was truly a blessing. One of the last projects she completed during her time at Ephesus was with the support of a parent and friend, Mrs. Ivy Williams who accompanied her on Wednesday’s to Hon. Coye’s office. With much prayer and discussion, she was successful in acquiring a concrete building that accommodated two classrooms. Upon her retirement in 2004 the enrolment was at one hundred, eighty-four students. Her dedication and hard work were beyond incredible! She truly had the support of all stakeholders. Verna Thurton took up the reigns for one year in 2004-2005 where she did general upkeep and improvement around the compound. Followed by Mr. Jaime Roberts from 2005-2008 who did some repairs and upkeep of the bathrooms and buildings. Mrs. Marva Awardo served from 2008-2012 focusing was on parental involvement, curriculum and instruction alignment along with updating school records and policies. Sara Bevans served for one year 2012-2013 and committed to financial growth in addition to working on the school records and policies. Since 2013, Mrs. Velda Jesse has been serving as the principal and she continues to update school records and policies as well as some general upkeep to the buildings and bathrooms. Additionally, we have a school library that has been equipped with two computers and tablets for research and reading purposes. Over the years we have been committed to improve our literacy and numeracy performance and in so doing improving the overall performances on the two standardized test at Standard III and VI. Most of the children our school serves are those from underprivileged families in the immediate community and those from the Conch Shell Bay area just over the Bel China Bridge. These are children from single parent households and children whose parents have attended our school in earlier years and have graduated and went on to high school and graduated successfully, in turn enrolled their children with confidence. We therefore recognize that these are the children that are at-risk and often lack basic life necessities and access to resources. Most of these children may not have the option of attending the other north side school in the area yet they need a chance to be among the numbers that will successfully complete their primary education, move on to secondary school and eventually become productive members of their community. Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Primary School is here to provide them with that opportunity. We also serve and welcome students of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds who desire an opportunity to have Christ and the teachings of the Bible as part of their education. The blended Christian environment of our school is one of our strengths. We strive to provide our children with the resources for them to succeed. We provide guidance and enrichment, mentoring and after class assistance to help children meet educational goals. The student population is richly diverse which provides a wonderful environment that promotes cultural diversity and understanding. Students comfortably interact in a positive, supportive and educational environment. The school is a place where students excel academically, spiritually, and physically, where life-long friendships are developed, and faith is cherished.
