A Letter from Margretta Smith-General, Executive Director of Hilltop Schools
It is with honor and pleasure that I introduce to you Hilltop Schools. We are a Liberian organization established to ensure the education, health, and safety of our children. Our mission is to educate children to become the future leaders of Liberia.
We established ourselves in July 2019 to educate over 4,000 children across 18 public schools and 1 private girls academy that were formerly supported by More Than Me Foundation (“MTM”). Hilltop Schools has assumed the operation of More Than Me Academy, as well as the LEAP schools in Montserrado, Bomi and Gbarpolu Counties.
In the wake of the closing of More Than Me Foundation, a group of committed individuals, former staff from More Than Me, and new partners came together to answer a simple question: How could we ensure that the children that were benefitting from a quality education every day through MTM did not lose access to education, healthcare, social support and a brighter future?
It is out of this backdrop and these conversations that Hilltop Schools was born.
The Hilltop Schools team is building on the legacy, learnings, and challenges from MTM, and committed to safety, transparency, and local leadership in all that we do. We are an entirely new and separate organization.
I am the Executive Director at Hilltop Schools. I come to this role with over 20 years of experience directing and leading education organizations, designing curriculums and education trainings, and teaching in both Liberia and the United States. I have served in appointed positions to the former President of Liberia as Assistant Minister in the Liberian Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. I have a Post Master’s Studies in Education and Linguistics with relevant coursework in curriculum development, a Master’s Degree in International Development, and a Bachelors in foreign languages. In my role, I am responsible for overall leadership, management, and strategic direction for all the programs managed by Hilltop Schools.
We have an incredible team of leaders at Hilltop including Sylvestine Gbessagee as Director of Safeguarding, Boukari Conombo as Director of Finance, and Alex Fallon as an Education Advisor.
Hilltop Schools has established a strong Board of Directors, led by Dr. Gracie-Ann Dinkins, trauma surgeon, three-time Olympic runner for Liberia and CEO of Kutoa Afrika Foundation. Other Board Members include Director of the Carter Center and Integrity Idol winner, James Dorbor Jallah, Senior Business Analyst Tanya Debblay, J. Kerkula Foeday, Eugene Gray, Gbanja Scott, Fiona Weeks, and two representatives from the Academy PTA, Morris Siassay and Solomon Denue.
In September, the Academy opened its doors to 280 students in pre-K to 9th grade. New leadership and teachers have been recruited, screened, and hired for the Academy. All staff spent August preparing for school to open, and participating in trainings regarding organizational policies such as child protection, safeguarding, whistleblowing, code of conduct, professional development, and more. For our students attending the Academy means two meals a day, access to health care, a full social work department and safe space, as well as newly added after school homework support and extracurricular activities.
In August, the first class of Academy 9th graders graduated! The Vice President was the keynote speaker at their graduation ceremony. She commended the graduates on their courage, hard work and resilience. 13 of our graduates headed off to Ricks Institute, a top high school in Liberia, with the generous support of the Vice President! 6 students opted to stay local, and attend the College of West Africa (CWA), another top high school in Monrovia. We are so proud of these incredible young women.
We’ve been working closely with the Ministries in Liberia to ensure all of our accreditations and clearances are in order. Hilltop Schools has both its education and health clearances and has been awarded a 6-month provisional license to operate 18 LEAP schools. With this excellent news, we have gotten straight to work; hiring 3 Education Capacity Leads, one Health Capacity Lead, and one LEAP Social Worker to begin visiting LEAP schools, delivering curriculum and supplies, and running teacher and principal training. We anticipate over 3,700 students will be enrolled across our 18 public primary schools.
Hilltop Schools is focused on the education, health and protection of the students in our care. We are working diligently to be a high impact and high integrity organization. Transparency is our utmost priority. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, ideas, or concerns that you may have at hi@hilltopschools.org.
Our top priority is the education, health, and protection of the children in our care. They are our future.
Please join us on this journey.
Climb to the top with us,
Margretta Smith-General