Construction of the secondary school classrooms and the girls' hostels completed
Chalo Trust School opened its' doors to the public for the first time and enrolled its' first students
Second phase; The dining hall and the kitchen completed
Third Phase; The construction of the management offices and junior boys hostel completed
Girls Hostel burns down
School produces record results at grade 12 level
Girls Hostel is rebuilt
Fourth Phase; The construction of the primary school is completed
New Boys Hostel completed and opened
Completion of the school Wall fence Restructuring of the school academic program
School History and Overview
Chalo Trust School was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Chileshe, a humble Christian couple. The Chileshes came to Chamba Valley in 1995, originally using the land for poultry and vegetable farming. They noticed a large gap in the education provided by government funded schools and costly private schools, and wanted better for their children and their community. At the time of the conception, there existed a large gap between the private schools and the government sponsored schools and there seemed to be fewer secondary schools that had strong academic characteristics but also embraced good morals and spiritual development based on Christian values and practices. The Chileshes’ ideal school would offer world-class education and incorporate strong Christian values. Five years later, after much prayer and consideration, Mr. and Mrs. Chileshe invested their life savings to build Chalo Trust School. Years of comprehensive research went into determining the ages of future students, the curriculum selected, and staff expectations. Finally in January 2004, the school opened its secondary education section to the public with the name “Chalo” in recognition of children, Chali and Lombe Chileshe.
Infrastructure and Growth
Most of Chalo’s construction took place between 2001 and 2003. The school was registered in September 2003 and opened its gates for the first time on the 12th of January in 2004. At inception, there were only 9 pupils against 18 teachers. By the end of the first year, enrollment increased to 45 students. In April 2005, the number of students more than doubled to 110 total. By 2017, Chalo's numbers had risen to nearly 200 students. With 27 teachers, Chalo maintains a low student-teacher ratio of approximately 7:1, thus ensuring students get maximum attention from their teachers.
Burning down and Reconstruction of the Girls' Hostel
In 2008, Chalo Trust School experienced a great tragedy and was faced with tough challenges to overcome. During the August holiday, an electrical fault in the Girls’ Hostel started a fire and burned the building to the ground. Loss of the iconic building devastated members of the school, but fortunately no people were injured during the incident. Mr. and Mrs. Chileshe opened up their home to female students for the next two years while funding and rebuilding of the Girls’ Hostel took place. The Girls’ Hostel reopened in the 2nd term of 2010.
Opening of the Primary School
In 2011, Chalo Trust School opened a primary section designed to prepare younger students for the vigorous courses at the secondary level. The core purpose of the primary school was to feed into CTS secondary school, pupils that are academically prepared and well groomed with strong ethical and Christian values and strong leadership qualities. Apart from that, we also wanted to provide a first class primary education to children of all backgrounds from within and outside the country, which would enable them to easily transfer to secondary schools of their choice either within Zambia or abroad. For our primary school, we offer an academically stimulating program that enhances the social, emotional, moral and physical growth of our pupils. It is essential that students are prepared to be world citizens and make lasting contributions, despite the prejudices of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, language, and ability/disability.
