St Mary High - committed to success

HIGHGATE, St Mary:A STUDENT population of 1,621 has the St Mary High School bursting at the seams unable to meet the growing demand from parents who want their children to be part of its success story. Principal Errol Johnson attributes this to the teamwork which has characterised his stewardship since October 1990, underpinned by the commitment of the staff members to give of their best at all times.

Performance at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination has improved significantly over the last 10 years, with the school located in Highgate, St Mary, now a magnet for students from across the parish looking to pursue Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination studies.

"About 30 per cent of our students for the CAPE are from other schools in and around the area. The sixth-form population stands at just over 200, and we do get good results, so people tend to gravitate towards us. We had over 300 applications and were only able to take 133," he explains.

The demand for Grade Six Achievement Test placement is just as high, with requests for transfer averaging more than 100 each year.

"Right now, we are full to capacity and can't take any more," Johnson admits.

In order to meet the growing demand for space, in 1977, the school experimented with the double-shift system, but reverted to single in the 1980s.

strategic planning

Limited by the geographical terrain and an increase in land slippage in Highgate in recent years, the school is unable to add more permanent structures, limiting its physical expansion to board buildings only. Land slippage behind the original library many years ago triggered some concerns, but today there is no immediate threat to the facility or its occupants.

Today's success is the result of strategic planning, a series of what the principal calls "development plans", deliberate strategies designed to provide an appropriate learning atmosphere and foster good student-teacher relationships, thereby translating into good performances.

Five years ago, the school set out to have more than 75 per cent of its students passing five subjects or more at the CSEC level, a target it has achieved and maintained. This is coming from a low average in 1990 when of the 26 exam courses on offer, only in three subjects was the school achieving a 50 per cent pass rate.

Things have since improved as principal Johnson explains: "Now, all of our subjects enjoy a 50 per cent or more pass rate, with math, of course, at the lowest level - which is just about 53-55 per cent - but we are hoping with our development plan, in the next three years it should be at a minimum level of 75 per cent."

While students are the ones sitting examinations, their teachers have been putting in hard work, too, with the school doing a microanalysis of past performances and using the knowledge garnered to inform teaching methodologies going forward. Going beyond the number of passes, the school has invested in a detailed examination of how students perform. Recognising weakness as well as strengths has led to interventions at the grade seven level to address and reinforce the areas as may be necessary.

achieve excellence

While teachers are at the forefront of this drive to achieve excellence, the principal disclosed that the entire staff is involved.

"When I refer to the entire staff, I refer to academic, auxiliary, and administration. When we are doing development plans for school, all of us sit down together and work on it - what we hope to achieve and how best to go about it," the principal said.

Involvement in extra-curricular activities is deemed critical to overall development of the individual, and St Mary High is doing well in this area, the achievements of its cadet unit a source of pride. Over the last 20 years, it has been adjudged number one in the island 13 times, taking second spot this year. This is a source of personal pride for the principal, who was integral to its development over the years, but has now divorced himself from its operations. As second in command of the all-island cadet corps, Lieutenant Colonel Errol Johnson no longer plays an active role in its administration, but as principal, still beams with delight at its impressive record.

The top 4-H Club in the parish this year, St Mary High continues to do well in agriculture with good passes in agriculture science and the practical application which sees it producing chickens and cultivating vegetables. The rabbit-rearing project has been put on hold but will soon be restarted. In fact, the agricultural science department takes care of the horticultural aspects of the school's beautification programme.

While the school's glory days as a power to be reckoned with at the annual Eastern Championships track meet in the mid 1970s - when André Gillette, Jackie Pusey, Lilieth Hodges, and Doreen Small blazed the track - is a fading memory, it is on track to once more make a mark in sports in general, and track and field in particular. Lack of funding is a major drawback, and in addition to its own fund-raising efforts, the school has benefited from the kindness of Member of Parliament for Central St Mary, Dr Morais Guy, who is also a past student.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com