Whitter’s Institute delivering some of PEP’s best in the west
Published:Friday | July 7, 2023 | 12:12 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
Her offering quality education for children at what was then Whitter’s Learning Centre, provided a spark that drew huge interest among a number of parents.
With growing demand for education of a higher level and with students doing so well, the parents were convinced that Rose-Ann Whitter needed to open her own school. This gave birth to Whitter’s Institute in 2019, 13 years after she had opened the learning centre in 2006.
Situated in the cool Westgate Hills in Montego Bay, with approximately 100 students, the institute has been seeing good results in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination over the last three years.
“Our students have been doing extremely well since the startup of the school. The first year, we sent in seven children and we basically got 100 per cent passes which placed them at the schools of their choice,” Whitter, who is the co-owner, founder and teacher, told The Gleaner.
“This year was not much different in regard to passes. We had 13 children who sat the exams, who were again placed in schools of their choice,” she noted.
Reflecting on where she started to where she is now, an overwhelmed Whitter expressed fulfilment.
“Never in my wildest dream would I anticipate having my own school. Just from being an ordinary student in the classroom, until I became a teacher, master teacher and, of course, until I actually own my own school now. It is an achievement that many people would not have garnered up to this age,” Whitter proudly said.
“I am extremely proud because, when I look at past students, I am very excited to go to business places and see them doing well. So I am grateful to God for that,” she added.
Originally a learning centre, this great initiative all started in just a small garage space.
Some evenings, up to 50 students would come in for extra lessons to prepare them for the GSAT and PEP examinations.
Relaine Bicarie, a proud parent whose daughter was placed at her first-choice school, said it was the high recommendations of Whitter that drove her to move her child to Whitter’s Institute.
“In Grade Four, I think that the work would have been a little more serious. With high recommendations of Whitter, as soon as she started up the school, there was no hesitation, we jumped ship. My daughter just graduated with a 95 per cent average and will attend Herbert Morrison and I am very proud of her,” a pleased Bicarie, said.
“The teachers that were there behind my child, as well as her classmates and the energy and work that Mrs Whitter put in all of her students, we were going to school during the holidays, weekends. She insisted that she wanted to pass through everything before January because, in January, we would be focusing on revision, and that method worked very well,” she added.
Speaking to The Gleaner about her students’ successes over the years, Whitter explained that, though the journey was difficult preparing students, she kept pushing ahead.
“During my 11 years teaching at Mount Alvernia Prep where I spent most of my teaching career, my students would have garnered the top scholarships in the island, the Scotiabank Scholarship, and from there I was motivated to continue excelling,” Whitter said with enthusiasm.
She added: “I trained and prepared students from Common Entrance, GSAT and PEP examinations. It was a difficult journey. My career started at Glendevon All Age when I just left college in 1992. I went on to Montego Prep where I spent two years.”
Currently, the school has expanded and caters to students from ages six to 12 years old. They start at Grade One and they exit at Grade Six, because the school operates at the preparatory level.
With more parents being interested, Whitter plans to construct a new building for grades four, five and six.
According to her, the school’s intention is to be the best in the west and put the school on the map, regardless of competition from other schools.
Eleven-year-old Masyn Baxter, who was one of Jamaica’s top three highest performing students in the recent PEP examinations, said he was elated with his results.
“Passing to go to Herbert Morrison, which is my first choice, made me very proud of myself because I worked hard to achieve this accomplishment. Even though we all felt discouraged, the school kept pushing us through and it led us to this moment. Mrs. Whitter and the other teachers helped to guide me through this and helped me with my schoolwork,” Baxter said.
Twelve-year-old student Amalya Gray said: “The school was actually very good in helping me and my classmates prepare for the exams. We got harder worksheets than the actual exams and focused on our weak areas, which I believe really helped us.
“My results were really good as I got all high proficiency and I was in the 97 percentile. I am going to attend Mount Alvernia High, so I am really happy about that.”