Founded in 1999 as an educational reinforcement program by US educator Hanley Denning, today Safe Passage is a full-day accredited school with 550+ students enrolled from age 3 through 9th grade, and into our high school career planning program, Oportunidades ("Opportunities"), a half-day high school program that provides educational reinforcement, academic enrichment, technological skills training, English and computer literacy, and college preparation for students graduating into grades 10 through 12 in external high schools. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, after Guatemalan schools were shut down for two years, we added our first class of 3 year-olds, preparing our youngest learners for preschool. In addition, Safe Passage is purposefully more than a school: the Safe Passage experience and campus includes on-site integrated health services and programs for students (an on-site health clinic and staff to address the physical, psychological, and dental needs of students while supporting whole families), highly nutritious and culturally-relevant food throughout the school day, and a certificate family nurturing program for parents that builds on strengths to improve communication skills and parenting techniques. Safe Passage/Camino Seguro students all have a familial connection to the dump and also represent the diversity of Guatemala. Many of our students are internally displaced indigenous people, their families having fled from the highlands lacking economic opportunity in rural areas, climate-related disasters/displacement, violence, and the dump offers a source of income.
