Fugees Academy opened successfully for the 2018-2019 year, currently housed in St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. The school, an expansion based on their successful flagship school in Clarkston, GA, is designed around providing quality education for the various refugee and immigrant populations in Columbus. With English skills lower than their peers, the refugee children welcomed into Columbus are often far behind benchmark in the public school system. Fugees Academy aims to educate and empower these students to succeed in their new country; to do this, the school utilizes smaller class sizes, individualized instruction, extensive language tutoring, and team-building through the school’s soccer programs.
The school began its first year with close to 40 sixth graders, with plans to continuously add grades each year moving forward. These students have come from various countries, including Nepal, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, and Uganda. For the fall, the school fielded soccer teams competed in local leagues. Now that winter is in full effect, these teams have joined an indoor league in order to keep their skills and team-building consistent.
Fugees Family, Inc. is a Georgia based nonprofit founded in 2006 to support refugee teens and their families. Since 2009, the organization has run its flagship independent school in Clarkston Georgia – the first ever school in the United States dedicated to the education of refugee teens. Soccer remains a key to the success of the children, and the organization’s programming includes year-round soccer.
Fugees Academy Clarkston, Georgia, has a stellar high school graduation and college matriculation rates.
In Columbus, Fugees Family, Inc. operates its second ever school for refugee students, ages 11-19, for the 2018/2019 academic year at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church building.
- St. Andrew is clearly a community dedicated to serving the local community.
- St Andrew is located in the area of highest need for the independent school model Fugees offers refugee students.
- The St. Andrew building is ideal for the first year needs of The Fugees Academy.
- St. Andrew has an amazing outdoor green space for refugee student athletes to practice soccer daily.
For more information on Fugees Family, Inc. and Fugees Academy please visit the website, www.fugeesfamily.org.
