Roger and Norma Alexander moved to Haiti in 1983 with their two young daughters, Amber and Cara.  They moved to the northern city of Port-de-Paix, and intended to train and teach church leaders.  Their goal was to raise up pastors from among the Haitian people who would minister to their own people.  It soon became clear that Voodoo (a religion combining African animistic cult worship and elements from Roman Catholicism) was very entrenched in nearly every aspect of people’s lives, and unteaching it would be nearly impossible.  The Alexanders determined then to teach the message of Christ to young people, before Voodoo and elements of animism were so ingrained, and so was born the idea of a Christian English immersion school.

In 1986, Roger and Norma started a preschool class in their living room with four young children.  All subjects were taught in English, and Bible was a major part of each days’ lesson plan.  It was a success.  The following year, another of the Alexanders’ daughters graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a master’s degree in Education, and Carmen moved to Haiti to become the director of Sonlight Academy.  Sonlight Academy started with a preschool class, and as those students advanced each year, a grade was added to the program.  Since English is not the national language of Haiti, and Haitian children do not speak English, Sonlight Academy only admits preschoolers each year, who then advance through to twelfth grade.