The buildings, which are for the two kindergarten classrooms of 80 students, are now being renovated and should be ready when classes open in September.
SVES principal Joaquina DLG. Salas on Friday said funding for the project came from the PTA and from other donations received by the school last school year.
In 2006, the buildings were described as unsafe.
Salas said the buildings could not be repaired in the past due to lack of funding.
“We’re very lucky to have our PTA and the community’s support,” she said. “We’re now able to build a new classroom for our kindergarten.”
Materials from the old building that are still usable will be utilized in the renovation of the other kindergarten classrooms, she added.
San Vicente had 819 students last year and is expecting a slight increase in enrollment this year as a result of transfers from private schools.
It has 35 classroom teachers of whom 21 are highly qualified —they have bachelor’s degrees, valid teaching certificates and have passed the Praxis tests.
Salas said SVES has enough classrooms to accommodate the expected number of enrollees.
“We’re hitting over 800 again this school year and we have 30 classrooms — five classrooms for every grade level from first to sixth grades,” she added.
Besides its dilapidated kindergarten buildings, the school also had to cope with flooding on campus two years ago.
Salas said this concern has been addressed through the assistance of the Department of Public Works which fixed some of the pipelines in the area.
The San Vicente students’ SAT-10 results for school year 2007-2008 were among the CNMI’s highest.
Last year, the school was allotted an operational budget of $46,000.
This was used in maintaining its buildings, purchasing supplies and toiletries, and paying for repairs.
Salas said they will continue with their energy conservation plan by switching on power from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. only.
