Education is the Cornerstone of Our Little Roses

Holy Family Bilingual School

Holy Family Bilingual School had very humble beginnings.

It was started by OLR when our founder Diana Frade realized that there were many young girls whose education could be maximized in a bilingual school. However, it was too expensive to send them all to a private school…” so we started our own”. HFBS originally operated unofficially as a nursery school using volunteers during the summer months. Soon thereafter HFBS received the required credentials to add elementary grade levels and operate as a school.

It did not take Diana long to recognize a need and a responsibility to become actively engaged in the San Pedro Sula community and make the school available to the local children. Holy Family Bilingual School is now an integral part of the community. Beginning with our new Daycare and Preschool classes and continuing through High School, our students receive the highest level of academics available.  

Holy Family Bilingual School is available to the children in the commhttps://hfbs.hn/unity and Our Little Roses girls who have the ability to succeed with the rigorous curriculum. Currently, there are 259 co-ed students from the community and 22 girls from Our Little Roses enrolled. HFBS graduated its first senior class in June 2013.

HFBS is reaching new academic milestones with the addition of Kirsten Axell Matsumoto, our English Studies Coordinator. Kirsten brings expertise in many areas including Positive Discipline and Trauma Informed Care.  

R.E.S.T. Center Residential Educational Center for University and Technical Careers

(Residencia para Educación Superior y Técnica) 

When Diana Frade founded Our Little Roses, it was her dream to take these girls “from the streets to the university”.  Knowing that education is the most important tool in breaking the chains of generational poverty, it was quite a lofty goal at the time.  Many of the girls who joined our family had never had a safe home or bed to sleep in, and very few had been to school on a regular basis.

Today, after over 35 years of ministry, the girls in our care all graduate from high school, and the majority go on to pursue extended education opportunities such as technical school, trade school, college, or university. We have a track record of girls who are now teachers, social workers, doctors, engineers, chefs, psychologists, and more. It is from the input from these success stories that The R.E.S.T. Center was born.  Diana saw how hard it was for the girls to transition to living off our campus while attending college and having to work as well.

The R.E.S.T. Center opened in 2017 and is a dedicated onsite living-learning center designed to meet the daily living and study needs of these amazing young scholars. At the R.E.S.T. Center, the young women working on their post-secondary education can continue to live in a safe, loving community while participating in a “work-study” program at the home.

The goal is to allow our scholars to focus on their studies. The R.E.S.T. Scholars are assigned a work-study position and are able to earn a stipend for their work. The R.E.S.T. Scholars “volunteer” in a position that will also support their chosen area of study.  This may include helping the younger girls with homework, working at Mi Rincon (our in-house special education program) with our special education teacher, at Holy Family Bilingual School as teaching assistants, or with our Tias helping with the daily care of the girls. The program teaches the young women how to manage their finances, manage and maintain their shared living space, and develop the time management skills needed to become essential and functioning members of society.

At the R.E.S.T. Center, the scholars learn how to care for themselves and the other girls who live with them while keeping their studies as the highest priority.  The R.E.S.T. Center is located on campus but is designed to allow a new level of independence for these girls who are all over the age of 18.  After graduating from their programs, the scholars have the opportunity to move to our off-campus Transition Apartments while continuing to receive financial support for at least 3-months as they look for their first jobs. Since the onset of the Global Pandemic and the many ways this has changed our world, this process has become more fluid and flexible.

Currently, the R.E.S.T. Program is funded through our sponsorship and scholarship programs.  The goal is to empower the girls to be responsible, self-reliant, and independent so that once they achieve their educational goals they will be agents of change for themselves, their community, and the future of Honduras.

Cultural Identity Education Program

The Center for Cultural Identity is an integral part of how we educate the girls. The Center’s focus is to make available a wide range of extra-curricular activities for the girls so their lives are well rounded. We are very excited with one of our newest programs designed to expose the rich history and sites of Honduras.