“It is a very sad day for Ladera International School Saipan which, due to a major economic downturn, and coupled with the CNMI’s economy not showing signs of any recovery in the near future, will be suspending its 2010/11 school operations,” school principal Dr. Jack Angello said in an Aug. 13 letter to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Angello also informed WASC that they have followed the existing standards for closing down school operations, including advising students, parents and staff to transfer to other schools.
“If LISS [re-]opens in the future, it will contact your office for whatever advice and direction that you may offer to reapply for candidacy status,” he told WASC.
Appeal
Angello, who officially assumed the principal’s post last April as a “part-timer,” said LISS has been hosting local and foreign students for the past four years.
He said all of the school staff members, including teachers, received their final checks on Thursday.
LISS relied on Korean investors but because the economy is “bad” the owners decided to close the school, Angello said.
He is hopeful that LISS will reopen in the future.
There were 90 students, including those from abroad, that enrolled in the past school year, he said.
Surprises
LISS student Luisa Tenorio, 7, said she will miss the school.
LISS, she said, is near their house in Fina Sisu.
Her father, Joseph Tenorio, said he was “surprised” by the sudden decision to close the school.
Kindergarten teacher Jean Angeles, one of the pioneering teachers of LISS, said they were saddened by the school’s situation.
“It’s sad but we have to move on,” Angeles said.
LISS accountant Hazel Dela Santa said they will start releasing all the documents of their students on Wednesday so they can transfer to other schools.
