MAXIME LOUIS
REMICILE VOLTIS
School Founders
Remicile Voltis and her husband Maxime Louis (now deceased), are the founders of Institute Mixte Remax. Tragically, Maxime passed on September 25, 2017, just 6 years after opening the school's doors.
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Remicile is our school's current Director.
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Below, is Maxime's and Remicile story, the founding of Institute Mixte Remax, and our school's story of growth.
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With a core of dedicated staff, and your support, Maxime and Remicile's vision of affordable, accessible education continues.
THE "RE"(micile) and (re)"MAX" STORY
Remicile Voltis and Maxime Louis have a heart for children.
In 2011, Remicile and Maxime purchased land to build their own home in which to raise their family. But in their community of Montrouis, they saw children in the streets not attending school, children who were unable to attend school because their families were unable to pay for their education, and children living in orphanage settings. They knew few schools would take the children in as students.
Instead of building a home for themselves, they built a school for their community - a single building with two classrooms, a single washroom, and small office space. They named the school "Remax Mixte Institute". In the early days, the two classrooms were cinderblock walls with coconut leaf roofs. A lean-to kitchen was added to provide a daily meal for the students and staff. The school opened with 50 students, provided Kindergarten to Grade 3, and operated with volunteer teachers.
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BUILDING THE SCHOOL IN 2011
OUR SCHOOL TODAY
Responsive to community needs along with balanced growth
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Today, our school provides Preschool to Grade 9, educating 30 children ages 3 to 18 years, employs 40 Haitian staff, and serves 66,000 daily lunches every school year.
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Annually in December, we provide family meal kits to support our families' nutritional needs when the lunch program does not operate during the Christmas Break. When necessary, we provide additional basic necessity support to our families. For example in July 2024, we provide a second meal kit distribution to assist our families over the summer break.
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We have a 90% retention rate of our students, year over year. This is significant as 60% of enrolled children in aiti will abandon their education by Grade 6 (typically because families cannot afford the cost to educate their children), and only 10% of all children enrolled in school will attend High School.
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Our growth has been steady and responsive to our students' and community's needs. Since 2011, we've added 9 classrooms across 2 additional buildings, renovated the kitchen and it is now a concrete enclosure with plumbing, sinks and countertops, and gas stoves. We've built a separate washroom facility for students, a 10 tap handwashing station, increased the height of our perimeter walls, among many other minor improvements to our classrooms to enhance student learning and our teacher's capacity to teach.​​
COMPLETING THE INVESTMENT
IN OUR STUDENTS
Highschool, Trades, and Marketable Skills
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The 2023-2024 school year produced our 4th cohort of Grade 9 students to complete their pre-Highschool education with us. Each year, our Grade 9 class achieves a minimum 80% pass rate on their mandated government exams; in 2024, our Grade 9 class achieved a 100% pass rate. Students must pass the government mandated Grade 4, Grade7, and Grade 9 exams to be eligible to attend Highschool.
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While a student may pass all their exams with us, the financial barriers to attend Highschool remain - local High Schools require families to provide for their child's uniform, books, and supplies. Many of our students' families are unable to continue their child's education, once they complete Grade 9 at our school.
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It is time for our campus to grow again, to offer not only Grades 10, 11, and 12, but also vocational programming for our students to learn marketable skills. Included in this expansion must be electrical capacity to bring internet and computer based technologies to our staff and students.
PROPOSED NEW BUILD -
SECOND STORY ADDITIONS
DRONE IMAGES OF SCHOOL
SUMMER 2023
