section_path: Education
section_name: Education
paragraph_text: Education
  
  Previously residents had to complete secondary studies in Aruba or Curaçao. Prior to 1976, Sint Maarten had two secondary schools: the government secondary school John Phillips School and the Catholic secondary school Pastoor Nieuwen Huis School. Philips was both a MAVO/ETAO school while Huis was a MAVO school. The foundation Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs van de Bovenwindse Eilanden, established on 20 February 1974, was created as the neutral governing body for a new school created by the merger of Phillips and Huis schools. MPC, the merged school, opened on 17 August 1976.
  
  The Caribbean International Academy (CIA), founded in 2003 is a preparatory private boarding and day school on the island of St. Maarten. Catering to children from Kindergarten to Grade 12, CIA is also the only school offering Canadian/Ontario High School Diploma (OSSD) and 90% of their graduates go on to attend universities in Europe, Canada and the United States. Learning Unlimited Preparatory School (LUPS) is an American accredited institution, that established a Caribbean location in St.Maarten in 1991. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
  
  Most residents who attend tertiary institutions do so in Curaçao or the European Netherlands.
  
  The American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC), founded in 1978, was previously located on Montserrat. Because of the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano in 1995, AUC moved its campus to St. Maarten later that year. A permanent campus was completed in 1998 in Cupecoy.
  
  The University of St. Martin is located in Philipsburg. The University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine, founded in 1999, was previously located on Sint Eustatius. In September 2013, the University of Sint Eustatius moved its campus to Cole Bay, St. Maarten.
  
  Philipsburg Jubilee Library in Philipsburg was the most prominent library in Sint Maarten. However, after Hurricane Irma hit the island in 2017, the library was forced to shut down. As of February 2019, Philipsburg Jubilee Library still lacks the funding necessary for it to be rebuilt, but has recently reopened in a temporary location until further notice.