Monrovia – A promising partnership between Michelle Dennis Wento, wife of former Presidential candidate MacDonald Wento and Cllr. Soni Williams, wife of the former head of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, Mr. T. Nelson Williams is threatening the survival of one of the premiere primary schools in Liberia.
Cllr. Williams, in 2012, founded Cyber-Ed Christian School of Excellence and developed a student-centered curriculum to meet the needs of Liberian students.
The Cyber-Ed Christian School of Excellence (“CCS”) which recently became a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (“ACSI”), the largest accrediting body for International Christian schools in the world has over the past seven years, created a curriculum to enable young Liberian students compete on a global scale. In 2014, Cllr. Williams, founder, partnered with co-founder, Dennis-Wento, to expand CCS to more than 100 students.
In April, 2017, the school applied for membership with this prestigious association. After evaluation and background investigation, CCS was approved as the first school to be admitted to this prestigious body in the Mano River Union.
According to court records, In recent months, the partnership has been on edge with the former presidential candidate and his wife suing the school with an eviction notice and seeking to have the school dissolved in a bid to establish her own school. The Wentos have refused to give the school ample time to relocate and is requesting that they leave the property immediately, even as teachers and administrators are still preparing report cards and transcripts for students and giving make up exams to students who were out sick during exam week.
Although the school was established as a sole-proprietorship in 2012 by Soni Karnga Williams, Williams reportedly asked Michelle Wento to join her in 2014-2015 to expand the school and the school has been successful for 7 years. Now, the Wentos are trying to get a hostile takeover of the school and are seeking a profit entity. The school is currently a non-profit entity.
The Wentos are using the platform of Cyber-Ed to recruit parents and teachers for the Wento Heritage Academy School which is not currently existing.
When the ACSI decided to include CCS under its umbrella, it noted that it was impressed with Cyber-Ed’s curriculum, which focuses on technology-based learning and S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math) education. The association was also impressed with the school’s Vision, Mission and Core Values. The school’s music program and stellar WAEC performance were also notable achievements that were taken into consideration for admittance.
The ACSI membership offered a perfect opportunity for the CCS to take advantage of the organization’s international teacher’s certification program, career center, online learning, leadership University, international conferences for school leaders and teachers, and international competitions and standardized testing assessments for students.
Now, the project once dubbed by Cllr. Williams as “a great accomplishment for Cyber-Ed” is at risk of falling prey to closure.
According to public court records obtained from the Temple of Justice, the eviction case is currently in front of the Justice in chamber and the dissolution case in the Commercial Court of Liberia.
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