Trinity Yard School

Trinity Yard School aims to educate and empower youth in Ghana, by providing a fee-free secondary education and career training opportunities to honor the potential of young Ghanaians. The school was established to serve the youth in Cape Three Points, Ghana, and other neighboring communities; by providing a fee-free secondary education with a primary focus on literacy, numeracy and vocational skills training.The school aims to create a diversified learning environment involving students in many extra-curricular activities such as a kente weaving, drum and dance group, soccer team, and a student-run organic vegetable and fruit farm. Our school is devoted to serving students who have completed their elementary and middle school education and face very limited options for their future. For many reasons--academic, political and economic--most students fail their national junior high school exam, which prevents them from continuing their schooling. most families live in severe financial poverty and have very little money to invest in their children's education. This leaves students who are interested in learning trades unable to afford apprenticeship fees, housing or food outside of the village. Even in the rare case when a student is able to complete high school, he or she is faced with a limited and very competitive job market. The school aims to enrich the lives of the youth not only in Cape Three Points, but also the lives of other Ghanaians and volunteers from abroad. The school employs Ghanaian teachers from other parts of the country, offering jobs with competitive salaries to qualified individuals. Volunteers include teachers taking part in volunteer internships as well as student groups such as Putney Student Travel. We all benefit from the rich cross-cultural exchange the School has created. Along with providing jobs for local staff, the school employs community members as guest teachers to share local knowledge of folklore, agriculture, and herbal medicine.