The Tribune

LYFORD Cay International School officially opened its upper school campus during a ceremony on Friday.

The achievement of this vision comes after the largest-ever fundraising campaign in the school’s history through which $30 million was raised and invested toward the master plan for both campuses, the school said in a press release.

As LCIS is a non-profit school, the success of this campaign represents an incredible level of community support for the school and for its vision of providing an educational experience of the highest quality, the school said.

Now completed, phase one of the upper school project consists of a central gateway building that includes specialist classrooms for physics, biology, chemistry, design, art, dance and music, general classrooms and an administrative/student support wing. Additionally, physical plant requirements, landscaping, road works and ground preparations for future buildout were completed as part of phase one of the project. An outdoor sports complex consisting of two multi-sport game courts and two tennis-only courts is planned for completion by Fall 2021 and will provide additional facilities for physical education classes, competition and co-curricular activities for students.

When fully completed, the upper school will be a 17.5-acre campus, located just a half mile away from the lower school campus within the community of Lyford Cay. Further developments of an additional academic building, swimming pool and multi-purpose hall are all part of the larger vision for the campus in future phases.

LCIS Principal David Mindorff said, “The opening of this campus will enable us to expand our programming in many areas. There are specialist classrooms where our upper school students can deepen their learning through our IB programmes. “Similarly, the general classrooms are bright, airy and spacious. The learning walls in each classroom will allow teachers to further implement technology-integrated lessons and the green spaces and forests of the campus are ideal for outdoor education and green school initiatives. The strong local and international connections of our school will also be enhanced through the opening of this campus, as we hope to host exchanges and local and international educational, cultural and athletic events at these world-class facilities.”

LCIS remains committed to making the high-quality international education the school provides available to bright Bahamian students, the school said.

The campaign for the new campus included major investments in the scholarship endowment which now stands at $3.7m. The tuition assistance programme has made $8.5m available to Bahamian students over the last 10 years with $1.2m being offered in the 2020-21 school year alone.

“With the support of donors, this fund will continue to grow to ensure the school is able to support talented Bahamian students who would otherwise not be able to benefit from an internationally recognised IB education,” the school added.