The Academy for Peace and Justice (APJ), also known as Manitane de Luc Educational Institution, is a secondary school in Tabarre, Haiti, which serves more than 3,500 students each year.

The school welcomes young people from some of Haiti’s most challenged neighborhoods. Working together, young people, teachers and staff create visions of a more positive future and develop plans to make those dreams a reality.

Quick Facts about the Academy

  • Since opening in 2010, the student body has grown from 300 to more than 3,700 students

  • Grades 7-12

  • 4 buildings and grounds host an art department, sports fields, fitness center, library, computer lab, and 10 classrooms per academic level

  • 120 teachers and 50 staff members including administrative staff and support staff from different areas of Port au Prince

  • 4 deputy principals oversee each building

  • Numerous graduating seniors have earned whole or partial scholarships at Haitian and international universities

  • Some students have reduced mobility

Education Objectives

  • Uplift the ideals of honesty, responsibility and productivity in service to each young person reaching their greatest potential.

  • Provide young people with the opportunity to learn at least one professional skill to ensure their future economic stability.

  • Include all children in the social, economic and cultural life of the country.

  • Improve the living conditions of students’ families.

  • Reduce the juvenile delinquency rates in the country.

  • Encourage students’ fluency in English, French and Spanish (during summer camp programs).

  • Train youth efficiently in their chosen fields (summer camp programs & extra-curricular activities).

  • Equip young adults to persevere through financial challenges with the tools of basic financial management.

  • Inspire competitive and creative team spirit.

  • Model time management and other “soft” professional skills.

  • Show them how to develop their leadership skills.

  • Encourage participation as full citizens in a true democracy

Every Day at APJ

APJ is open Monday to Friday, occasionally extending session to Saturday if requested by teachers. Under the supervision of the deputy principals and the teachers, classes start each day with a devotion followed by the Haitian flag raising ceremony from 7h30 to 7h50.

The Art Department

The Art Department is a unit of the Manitane de Luc Institution/APJ. Its main objective is to promote artistic creativity and develop the students’ talents in these subjects, particularly in culture and sports. (Facebook: #SportAPJ).

The department is divided in many branches mastered by different professionals and seasoned teachers:

  • Dramatic art putting the emphasis on theater and all the other sub-divisions of this art.

  • Plastic arts including drawing, painting and silkscreen printing.

  • Music (flute, violin, guitar, piano…)

  • Literature (poetry writing).

For each one of the fields mentioned above, the art department uses the classes and the workshops to showcase: the talent and the creativity of each child using the facility on a regular basis and that develops an interest for arts. The department also wishes to awaken the other children’s souls to their very own artistic sensibility.

From 2016 to 2019, four groups of students completed their senior year. Some of these students were beneficiaries of whole or partial scholarships for technical or university studies, at the national or international level.