Private school Ah Mu Academy yesterday marked its 10th anniversary with its students leading the celebrations through dance, song and drama.

Parents braved the early morning rain and converged on the school in Lotopa to see their children in grades 1-8 lead the commemoration, through the performance of various dance, song and drama items as well as a debate.

School principal Loretta Enoka Ulugia told the Samoa Observer that 10 years is a milestone for the educational institution as it was not easy in the foundation years when the school was established.

“From what I heard, they (school founders) had to struggle in the beginning to get buildings up, to get money to establish the whole thing so it’s been a great journey for the ones who started here,” she said.

But the hardship paid off over the years, she added with graduates from the school going on to the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) or getting scholarships for further studies.

“They have turned out quality students from this very small school and now they are overseas, some of them are at N.U.S., some of them are in the colleges and we are still rolling out – hopefully – the same quality students that started this school.”

When questioned on what the future holds for the school, Mrs Ulugia said the school strives to not only teach its students in line with the Samoa national curriculum, but prepare them to face life outside the classroom with confidence.

“So we are not just looking at passing exams and things like that, but it is also to prepare the students to have self esteem so wherever they are, they can be able to go with the changes, applying the knowledge that they have learnt from the classroom, in order to survive in the world and make a change for themselves so that they can achieve their goals in the future.”

The school today has 500 students attending classes in grades 1-8. It offers learning programmes sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture (M.E.S.C.). It was previously run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.) and was later handed over to an independent board of trustees when it was relocated to Lotopa.

Mrs Ulugia also used the occasion to wish all the former students of Ah Mu Academy and their parents a happy 10th anniversary as they contributed to its development.