Sabaneta de Yasica, Dominican Republic.- The community of Villa Progreso and The DREAM Project proudly inaugurated their new public Montessori Preschool “La Libertad” yesterday, which educates more than 100 children a day.

This program offers the highest quality of education, the world renown methodology of Montessori, absolutely free to the community and lays a solid foundation for continued quality education.

In spite of the global recession, the DREAM Project has expanded its Montessori Preschool Program to 4 different schools and communities throughout the North Coast, including Cabarete, Caraballo, Sabaneta and Abreu. There are over 500 children now benefiting from this initiative, all living in varying levels of poverty and extreme poverty.

This inauguration took on a special significance because of the community’s participation and refusal to accept the lack of quality education in the area. A group of community leaders actively petitioned the DREAM Project and have contributed scarce time and resources to ensure this program came together.

The collaboration is a perfect example of what can happen when a concerned community takes control of its own destiny and the education of its children. The real success is a result of the cooperation between the property’s owner, Paulina Tremblay, the DREAM Project and the parents and concerned citizens of Villa Progreso.

Apart from her contribution to La Libertad, Mrs. Tremblay has another primary school in the community of Los Brazos. She has more than 15 years fighting for the communities of the North Coast and its children.

The DREAM Project constructed the school, its sustainable fruit and vegetable garden and funds the operational costs of the program. The community’s parents rounded off the alliance through their petitioning of DREAM and committed hours of volunteer work throughout the year. These volunteer hours help offset the operational costs and involve the parents in their children’s education first hand.

The inauguration was attended by the program’s patrons, the Grieder Family and Joseph Pagano, along with DREAM Corporate Ambassador Banco Popular. Other participants were Mrs. Olga Perez of the Secretary of Education and local community leaders.

The vision of the DREAM Project is to build more Initial Education Programs throughout the country and to reinforce the quality of education provided by the Secretary of Education.

For information on how you can help, please email info@dominicandream.org or call 809 571-0497.