On behalf of our faculty and students, the board sends our best wishes for everyone to continue to stay safe and healthy during the ongoing pandemic. We wanted to update everyone with the latest news from the school and from Cambodia.
How we're doing
Thanks to you, the state of our school is strong. Your ongoing generosity allows us to provide a lifeline for our faculty and to keep our facilities ready for the day that school is back in session. Our principal Soviet Miech and his team are actively maintaining the condition of the campus buildings and grounds and provide us with frequent updates. Both school buses are also being maintained and are safely parked on campus, which is locked at all times.
In addition, the board continues to meet on a regular basis by video conference and is actively managing a great deal of ongoing activity related to fundraising, supporter relations, and communicating with our principal.
The latest on when classes will resume
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is in charge of determining when school will resume, and at this point, our sources in Cambodia tell us that they are targeting sometime in November 2020. (The normal start date of classes is typically in early November.) However, the situation around the world remains uncertain, and we are told that the ministry has not yet determined a specific date. As soon as we know, we’ll be sure to make an announcement.
Our 2020 annual school year kick off has been cancelled
The board has been carefully monitoring the situation since March, and on our latest conference call, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s celebration in Siem Reap and campus visit to Mongkol Borei.
There is simply too much uncertainty around travel safety and at the moment, Cambodia is requiring a $3,000 deposit and proof of $50,000 of travel insurance for foreign visitors. Adding to the uncertainty, most visitors transit through Bangkok on the way to school, and as of this writing, Thailand's commercial flight ban may be extended beyond July 1.
Since we don’t have a set date from the government for reopening and we would not want to put the health of our board, guests, faculty and students at unnecessary risk, we have decided that the best course of action is to err on the side of extreme caution and cancel the event.
Of course, we are disappointed. Over the years, the reunion of the Cambodia Academy family has grown into a “don’t miss” event that’s both fun and meaningful. It will make our 2021 event all the more enjoyable when we are able to join together again and celebrate our students.
Our faculty, keeping the campus maintained for the day students return.
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