Quisqueya News: Thursday, January 28

Yesterday was our first day back to class following the January 12 earthquake.  Our students began the morning with a chapel time of worship, prayer, and Scripture before heading off to begin their academic work.  Director Hersey and Chaplain Dave Manley led that time. Many students expressed how excited they were to see their friends again and get back into a routine.
We had a wonderful first day with 66 students coming to resume course work. Classes were led in the chapel as well as special times of instruction outside.  We are conducting instruction in Bible, English, history, math, and science. Lunch is being offered once again in the Snack Shop at the same prices as usual.
We ended the day with a time of announcements and devotions led by Principal Tony DeKoter. Our PreK-3rd grade students are being led by Mrs. Ackerman, and 4-6th grade are taught by Mrs. Jean-Charles. The 7-11th graders are being instructed in English by Mrs. Kilpatrick, math by Mr. Kulpa, Bible by Mr. Denny, and history by Mr. Kilpatrick. Our Quisqueya senior class is receiving instruction from Mr. Clay. The afternoons are designed to be a time where homework may be worked on so that students are relieved of the stress of taking home assignments.  At all grade levels, classes are doing special activities related to helping students cope with the earthquake we all have experienced. Some examples of these activities include writing about their experiences, art therapy, class discussions, and reading Scripture. We will continue to care for students’ emotional and spiritual health as we move through our academic curriculum.

Letter to Parents from Principal Tony DeKoter

Thursday, January 28, 2010 A.D.

Dear Parents,

Our school is experiencing growing pains.  The number of children back to school is beyond our expectation. If your child is out of Haiti, please enroll them in school there.  We do not have space for more at the present time.  If you wish to return next year, a spot will be held for you. We will not be accepting anymore enrollments at this time, but your name may be placed on a waiting list and we are reassessing space every day. The enrollment is closed at this time since we do not have the physical space available to us for classroom use.

We have taught the students in the past to serve in their communities. As a school community we are putting our talk into action – letting our light shine. That’s also a school focus at this time.  It is expected that the number of medical teams we are serving will grow smaller in the days, weeks, months ahead, as will the number of our national workers living on the school campus. God has used and is using this school His wonders to perform.  Praise Him!

School hours will be from 8 A.M. – 3 P.M. Please be punctual so that your children are in class on time and also are picked up on time at the end of the school day. No later than 3:30 P.M. Help us to do our task by being punctual.

School is on.  The academic focus will continue to increase as well as learning to use the resources of the people on the QCS campus and have them tell the students their story – What brought them here?  Why are they serving in Haiti? What type of education/schooling did they receive?  What kind of doctor are they? What is their field of specialization?

Thank you for your support and encouragement during these difficult times. Together we go forward building and rebuilding, not only physical structures, but also the lives of the children entrusted to us. Please direct questions to tdekoter@quisqueya.org.

Serving Him,

Walking in His SonShine in Haiti

Quisqueya News: Tuesday, January 26

Here’s the latest from the QCS Relief Coordination Center:

New medical teams from a church in Fairfax (Virginia), Water for Life, Operation Blessing (Florida), the Netherlands, Trinidad & Tobago, and Kinder not Hilfe (Germany) have arrived to treat earthquake victims. In addition, representatives from the Haitian Ministry of Heath and Airline Ambassadors have become involved in our coordination efforts, resulting in increased cooperation between aid groups and efficiency. In the last few days we have begun to implement three new efforts to better serve injured Haitians: inter-facility patient transfer, evening shifts at hospitals, and shifting post-operative patients to facilities outside the city for follow-up care.One major medical problem has been that often a patient arrives at a hospital or clinic, only to discover that the specialists or equipment needed to best treat him are in another location. For example, only one or two locations in Port-au-Prince are currently equipped to perform C-sections or have obstetricians. The goal of our inter-facility transfer effort is to compile lists of specialists and equipment throughout the city and then move patients to the best location. A second major issue is that there are only a few functional operating rooms in the city, but hospitals are closing around 4 or 5 pm. Adding a night shift to work from dusk until around midnight will double the number of surgeries that can be performed. A third challenge is that after patients receive treatment or operations, there are no facilities for follow-up care in the overcrowded hospitals. Our effort now is to locate hospitals further outside Port-au-Prince with vacancies so that follow-up care may continue after initial surgeries and treatment.

So far we have been able to connect with the US Navy to transfer 8 patients with spinal cord injuries to the University of Miami. Another 6 post-operative patients have been transferred within Haiti.One of the highlights of this QCS relief effort is our nightly 8 pm meeting for leaders of each medical team. The group tackles logistical problems as a team, brainstorming about how to overcome challenges such as hospitals lacking an operating room scheduler, the lack of blood banks, and how to care for patients in a hospital lacking running water or electricity. They also share stories of encouragement. One doctor shared how his hospital had delivered a baby that day without any obstetricians, and that the baby was born not breathing. After several tense minutes and hard work, the baby began to breathe again and had a heartbeat. Praise God!
Another highlight of our Quisqueya relief effort is serving the children of our Haitian staff members who have lost their homes and are temporarily staying on campus.

Parent Meeting Notes: Monday, January 25

This morning Quisqueya held a parent meeting at 9 am in the Elementary Building. First of all, director Steve Hersey shared that our buildings have been evaluated by engineers multiple times, and have been labeled structurally sound. Because of Quisqueya’s desire to serve Haiti following the earthquake, we are allowing some areas of campus to be used as an operational command center of the US Army as well as a Quisqueya coordination center for incoming medical mission teams.

Director Steve Hersey expressed his excitement to begin educating students once again. He emphasized that as we return to classroom instruction, things will be different but quality and standards will not decrease. Mr. Hersey discussed the options now available to Quisqueya students in light of the earthquake. The administrative offices (including the desks of principal Tony Dekoter and director Steve Hersey) are now located in the Elementary Library, and transcripts or student documents may be requested for those students who are transferring to other schools.  For those who are no longer in Haiti and are in 7th grade or higher, Sevenstar Academy is an accredited online school. At the beginning of January, over 20 Quisqueya students were already using Sevenstar for supplementary courses or main instruction.

For our students in Port-au-Prince, Quisqueya will open again for classes this Wednesday, January 27. We will be starting anew with a revised curriculum focusing on core courses (English, Bible, math, history, science). Mr. Hersey made a firm commitment that all returning seniors in good standing who were on track to graduate will receive a Quisqueya diploma. Quisqueya’s accrediting agency ACSI has created a team with experience in school administration following crises to advise our school.

Our academic standards will be high, but students’ emotional and spiritual health will be just as high a priority in light of the trauma of the earthquake. To that end, professional crisis counselors and a campus chaplain are here to listen to and love our students and staff. Dave Manley, a Creole-speaking former pastor of Quisqueya Chapel and longtime servant of Haiti, has flown in from Canada to serve as our campus chaplain and will be coordinating worship, prayer, and pastoral counseling. Mr. Hersey stressed that just as we would not hesitate to seek medical attention for a broken arm, we should not hesitate to care for our emotional and spiritual health following the earthquake. Seeking counseling is not a sign of weakness. Mr. Hersey shared that when students return to class on Wednesday, we will start at a reduced pace and give students time to complete assignments at school so the stress of homework doesn’t add to their burden at this time. Wednesday will be an orientation day. School hours will be remain the same, with new scheduling placing an emphasis on academics in the morning and a variety of activities including serving in earthquake relief efforts in the afternoon. Students are advised not to wear their uniforms for the present time.

One exciting new opportunity for serving local Haitians will be the creation of some basic classes on our campus for the children of our Haitian Quisqueya workers. Many of our guards, food service workers, janitors, and other staff are now homeless, and their families (including many children) are staying on campus. We commit to assist them as they get on their feet again, and one way will be educating their children in basic Bible, math, and English language skills.

Regarding finances, Mr. Hersey sadly reported that school income may be very low for some time, resulting in some regrettable teacher layoffs. The school desires to be sensitive to the financial hardships on our Quisqueya families following the earthquake, and plans to implement a sliding scale tuition system. The QCS Financial Committee is working on policies for the 2010-2011 school year. For details regarding what this means for your family for the rest of spring 2010, please speak to Mr. Tony Dekoter.

For students desiring to transfer to Quisqueya, the application process will be the same. Mr. Hersey has been in contact with other Port-au-Prince school leaders and seeks to assist them, but QCS is not merging with any school. Those interested in transferring should contact the school office.
Over 60 students’ parents attended the meeting this morning – what a great turnout! We are very excited to welcome back students again. Mr. Hersey recommended preparing returning students by sharing with them that the school campus will look different, their classroom may change, and that school will follow different routines than before. Students should know that all QCS teachers are safe, but that they may have a different teacher. Students should know the buildings are safe, and that they will be well loved as they return to class.

From this point forward we will make communication a high priority and will update this website very frequently.

Quisqueya News: Friday, January 22

The Quisqueya campus has become a hive of activity. Our buildings are undamaged and cleared for use by both civilian and military structural engineers, so it is our desire to use this campus to bless the Haitian people. Here’s the latest:Director Steve Hersey and the rest of our administrative team are now officing in the Elementary Library. We are looking forward to our Parent Meeting on Monday, January 25 at 9:00 am in the Elementary Building. Please enter at the Upper Gate.

We will be happy to accommodate your requests for transcripts, report cards, and any needed transfer paperwork. Please contact Mirna Beneche at mbeneche@quisqueya.org with your requests. We would love to account for every student and hear your family’s future education plans, so please be in touch with us at communication@quisqueya.org.The Quisqueya Christian School Relief Coordination Center has hit the ground running. A collaboration between our school and Crisis Response International has received over a dozen mission teams from locations including Germany, Korea, Mississippi, Texas, and the Dominican Republic with more arriving each day. The Relief Coordination Center is collecting information on the needs of area hospitals and is deploying medical teams, water purification teams, engineers, and donated medical supplies to where they are most needed.
Our campus is also continuing to house the families of our Haitian staff whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake. In addition, Quisqueya has formed a partnership with the US Army whereby the Army is using some parts of our campus for command and control of their local operations.

Lastly, Steve Hersey recommends the following helpful articles on how to help children cope with the earthquake and its aftermath.

Children Coping with Earthquakes

NASP Responding to Natural Disasters

Please check back often for updates, as we will post new information to this site. God bless!

Earthquake Update January 21, 2010

Quisqueya Christian School will have a parent meeting at 9:00 am on Monday, January 25, 2010 in the Elementary Building. We welcome you all to attend.

Quisqueya Christian School Relief Fund

We have set up an PayPal account to help our QCS families, our national workers, our community. Many have lost family members, suffered serious injuries, and lost homes and businesses.

qcsrelief@quisqueya.org is the Paypal account.

Welcome to QCS!

Welcome to the Quisqueya Christian School web site.  I invite you to explore this site to discover the many activities and opportunities available at QCS. Our college preparatory academic program provides rigorous academic courses that prepare students to have an impact on the world for Jesus Christ. Our alumni are testimony to the extra-ordinary combination of excellent teaching, caring and collaborative community, and unique opportunities that QCS offers.

I hope that as you visit our web site, you will see many examples of what makes QCS a special place, and find answers to your questions. If you do not find what you are looking for, please contactThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it us directly.

Enjoy your visit to Quisqueya Christian School, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Stephen Hersey

Director