Akhepran International Academy Genesis

Eleven years ago, June 2011, Dr. Jacinta Higgs and Mrs. Rhonda Wright agreed to host the first meeting for prospective parents which was held at the Kem En Het Heritage Center. In September 2011, one hundred and nine (109) students attended first day of school. Since its inception Akhepran International Academy has taught the standard European and African curricula in order to prepare our scholars to become conscientious citizens and proactive, global leaders. Akhepran began as a Bring Your Own Device “BYOD” School where every child was mandated to use a laptop.

Akhepran’s curriculum is designed to prepare our scholars to think wisely, speak truthfully, organize collectively and create ideas globally, as a typical 21st Century scholar. Our philosophy & epistemology is “Trinity of Teaching”. This idea includes helping students discern and decide upon their divine God given SKILLS (Passion), SCIENCE / SUBJECTS (Profession) and SPIRIT (Purpose for which they were born).

What does Akhepran mean?
The name Akhepran (pronounced “Ah-Khe-pran”) is derived from an Ancient African Kemetic word called “Khepri”, which refers to a scarab beetle. The scarab beetle is our school’s symbol because the beetle is a very strong and resilient insect that can survive any natural disaster such as fire, storm, volcano, flood and earthquake. Symbolically, the Khepri, also spelt Khepra beetle, means ‘divine strength’ and ‘self transformation’. Our scholars are taught to stay calm, remain strong and never give up no matter what obstacle or challenge they or their family may experience in life.

The Khepra beetle is very focused and disciplined and it rolls the faeces or dung of other animals into a perfect ball and then deposits its eggs inside the ball of dung for 28 days until they hatch. The beetle never gets distracted or lazy but instead it completes it job. Our scholars are encouraged to develop the same study and work habits of the Khepra. Hence the name means for them to work wisely and diligently as Akhepra

Adinkra Symbols — The building stands tall as a constant reminder of the values and wisdom of our African ancestors as the symbols are strategically placed all around Kem En Het. They were created by our Bahami-an sculptor and Iron wrought genius Tyrone Fer-guson who got the inspiration while travelling throughout Ghana Africa. Each symbol has a very powerful and sacred meaning and have been used for over 500,000 years. Adinkra.org is a very good resource to find out more about each symbol. Some of the themes and meanings are: Time changes and waits for no man, Beauty is within, Wisdom is worth more than gold, Respect for elders, Intelligence and Ingenuity, Unity in Family and Community, Strength and Self Discipline, Love, Forgiveness & Peace, Courage, Supremacy of God in all things which reads – Gye Nyame in Akan language.

Since 2011 our student population tripled and we have expanded our curricula subjects and learning opportunities for our scholars. Over the course of the past ten years we have offered subjects including: Latin, Law, Tennis, Martial Arts, Sign Language, Mandarin, Snorkeling, Cosmetology, Culinary are few of the innovative courses we added. Scholars and teachers trav-elled to beautiful and historic Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island and Grand Bahama. our Graduation and Leadership Retreat and College Tour to Universities in Florida was a special highlight pre COVID.

As we now conclude our eleventh (11th) year we are confident that the Skills, Science and Spirit components of our curriculum will manifest harmoniously to produce Excellence in Education and catapult Akhepran International Academy as a premiere 21st Century Learning Institution in The Bahamas post COVID. We thank God for 11 years of divine navigation and growth during this school year.