Jamaican family celebrates new school opening in South Florida

On June 1, a years-long dream of a Jamaican-American family in South Florida was realized, when they cut the ribbons at their new facility which will be the home of both the Bethlehem Preschool and Bethlehem Junior Academy.

It’s been a long time coming for the Nelson family, whose vision of a school where all children of all colors and creeds could receive a first-class education began with the matriarch, Dorothy Nelson, a Jamaican teacher who migrated to the United States with her husband and three children in 1981.

After settling in the United States, Nelson began working in corporate America but with a love for children and education, she soon found herself working at a preschool in Florida.

While at this school, she noticed how advanced one student was and decided to provide extra lessons outside the curriculum. The school reprimanded her for this, leading her to eventually leave her position. This experience sparked the idea of kitchen tutoring. She began teaching that student in her own kitchen.