Our Vision

The HEART in Haiti School is a model of excellence in teaching, learning, and sustainable education.

Our Mission

To educate the whole child, empowering them to reach their full potential.

Our Values

• Integrity and Respect
• Accountability and Transparency
• Commitment to being responsible community and world citizens by promoting sustainability
• Dedicated to our students and teachers through holistic education
• Commitment to excellent learning

Our Story

Some are little and some are beginning to look like young men and women. All of the students of the HEART in Haiti School (Ecole Mixte de Sibert) share a school that was created for them and those who come after them.

They share many life-changing bonds: education, learning respect, realizing critical thinking, accepting responsibility, understanding self-sustainability, giving, sharing and service. Many of these lessons are learned over the nutritious breakfasts and lunches provided each school day. Most important, they care for their school and community. Education to the students of the School is much more than academics.

The elementary school was founded in 2010 in an earthquake-damaged house that was a family home of the Director/Headmaster Schadrac Saint Louis. The school registered 42 students and hired five teachers from the community. Although this was not the ideal atmosphere for teaching, teaching happened and children learned. Serendipity played its role and added some important players to the team.

Jonathan Nash Glynn, in his own private plane, had been delivering needed supplies to the earthquake-ravaged area and became interested in the school that the young Haitian was developing. The two men became partners and began plans to move to another more promising location within a few miles. Two acres of land were chosen for a true campus to create an atmosphere so the students and faculty would grow and benefit.

Serendipity continued. Having heard about the school, Richard John Livingstone Martin, a retired professor from Georgia Tech, appeared at Shad’s gate offering to construct a school building. He proposed to do that with retired shipping containers, because he had been working on this process with his classes when he was on the Georgia Tech faculty. Shad was excited about the prospect of having real classrooms but wondered how this would all happen.

Professor Martin returned to Atlanta and spoke with his wife about how to fund his plan. She suggested meeting with the president of her Midtown Atlanta Rotary Club and that was the launching of an effort to reach out to financial supporters that grew from Atlanta through the USA and over into Europe. Soon a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called HEART (Haiti Education and Resource Team) was established for support. A small group of people committed to education, helping children affected by the traumatizing earthquake, and Haiti’s future gladly accepted a myriad of challenging responsibilities.

The initial classrooms and cafeteria building was constructed from four shipping containers on the newly acquired 2 acre piece of property. More classrooms were fabricated as the number of grades increased. In addition, an all-purpose building now rounds out the campus. This great addition to the campus, a gift from the Rose Foundation, provides space for community as well as the school activities. In addition to instruction, the children receive two school meals each day, cooked and served in the cafeteria, made with ingredients from local markets and from the school garden tended by students.

The HEART School in Haiti continues to grow. Today there are 179 students and 25 school team members. Each year another grade of students has been added, creating new jobs for local community members and providing hope and education to the children.

“Timoun jodi a, granmoun demen”
“Children today, adults tomorrow”