As the 2026 academic year gets underway, students across Belize are returning to classrooms with a familiar blend of nervous jitters, unbridled excitement, and wide grins. For the student body of Belize’s Stella Maris, that first-day energy carried an extra layer of warmth and celebration on September 1, even as the school adapts to a temporary campus.
Currently, the institution is operating out of borrowed facilities at the University of Belize while critical renovation work progresses on its original permanent building. Far from letting the temporary arrangement dampen spirits, school administrators, faculty, and parent volunteers pulled out all the stops to make every student feel welcomed, valued, and right at home from the moment they walked through the doors.
The day’s lineup of special welcoming activities included a custom photo booth with a branded backdrop, designed to capture first-day memories and let each student’s unique personality shine. Parents were invited to join their children for portraits, creating keepsakes of the milestone moment. In addition to the photo opportunity, students were served a hot, nutritious breakfast to start their first day off right, and each classroom had small treats and welcome tokens waiting for returning and new learners alike.
A highlight of the back-to-school effort came through a cross-border sister-city partnership between the Belize City Council and Miramar, Florida. Thanks to this collaborative initiative, every single student at Stella Maris received a brand-new school uniform ahead of the first day, removing a common financial burden for local families and ensuring all students arrived ready to learn with matching, fresh attire.
In an on-site interview on opening day, Stella Maris Principal Doreth Pascasio-Griffith shared her reflections on the palpable energy across the temporary campus. “The first day of school is full of excitement, so many big smiles and so much enthusiasm,” she said. “You could see that excitement reflected in the parents too. I saw some parents crying today – for many of our new families, this is the first time their child is joining Stella Maris, and those tears rolling down their cheeks are tears of joy and excitement for the new school journey ahead here.”
When asked about the extra steps the school took to make the first day special despite the temporary campus move, Pascasio-Griffith highlighted the focus on memory-making and connection. “As you can see behind me, we set up a special backdrop where the kids can take photos, and parents can join them for pictures too, because memories matter so much at these milestone moments,” she explained. “In every classroom, teachers have prepared small tokens and treats for the kids to welcome them back to school.”
This report is a transcript of an evening television broadcast from local Belizean news outlets, with all Creole-language statements transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accessibility. Viewers can access the full video broadcast via the original publication’s website.