HISTORY OF ST. ANN’S BAY HIGH & PREPARATORY SCHOOL
St. Ann’s Bay High and Preparatory School continues to do extremely well in preparing young minds for the present world and the world to come. As one author opines “The greatest want of the world is the want of men; men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men who will stand for right though the heaven’s fall.” This is the aim of St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School; to train young men and women to become of worth to society, and also to prepare them for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The school accepts students from all ethnic backgrounds. Our goal is to train. Over the years, we have had numberless successes in the various examinations. Our Common Entrance then GSAT passes have always been very good. Most of our students are always placed at traditional high schools in and out of the parish of St. Ann; schools such as: Calabar, Kingston College, Wolmer’s Boys, Wolmer’s Girls, Ardenne High, Holy Childhood High, Immaculate Conception High, Knox College, St. Elizabeth Technical, Munroe College, Hampton High, Westwood High as well as other schools within the parish.
This present school year the GSAT students were placed at various high schools, including: Jamaica College, Camperdown High, Calabar High, Knox College, Westwood High, St. Mary High, Ferncourt High, York Castle High, St. Hilda’s High, Ocho Rios High, Brown’s Town and Marcus Garvey Technical High.
All our teachers are qualified for the area in which they serve. They either have a diploma or a Bachelor’s degree. Some are presently in the process of upgrading themselves so that they can be better prepared for the service they are offering. Apart from their educational qualifications, they are Christians.
From the noble walls of the St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School have come numerous professionals: doctors, lawyers, pastors, teachers, nurses, policemen/women, engineers, business men/women, artists, to name a few.
Over the years, our school has participated in many activities and has received a number of awards. We have entered the J.C.D.C.’s annual culinary arts competition and have been awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals. We have entered into competitions with Heart and have been awarded trophies. We have entered debate competitions and have been awarded first and second place prizes. Our students have also entered the KFC Quiz competition and have also entered the national Spelling Bee Competition.
Previously, our enrolment was always very small but, as we have achieved, the enrolment grew. We have seen our enrolment for both high and prep school reach a high of 522; 322 in the prep and 200 in the high school. Unfortunately, as it is with all private schools, our numbers fluctuate
for various reasons: recession, relocations, etc. But God continues to be good to us. Presently, our enrolment is 414.
Our current Principal, Mrs. Paulette Ambursley, with her hardworking and capable staff, is determined to make St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School, the “school of choice” in St. Ann. The teachers of St. Ann’s Bay High & Prep do not only teach subjects they teach children. They are very committed to what they do. They even take students in their homes to help prepare them for examinations; they also give up their Sundays and public holidays to assist students in their work. I believe that is why God has blessed their efforts immensely.
Our students participate in all the national examinations. They sit the Grade One Individual Learning Profile and they always do very well; they sit the Grade Three Diagnostic Tests and always do very well; they sit the Grade Four Literacy & Numeracy Tests and they have done exceptionally well. In the last Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Tests that were done, our school was among the other few that got 100% for the Literacy; we have not yet received the result for the Numeracy, but I know that they will receive 100% as well. Our students have always done well in the GSAT examinations. We give thanks to God for His faithfulness to us at St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School.
We see His hands working in the life of His school. The way was not always smooth. The school started with eleven students in September 1940 at the St. Ann’s Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at Bravo Hill. Unfortunately, that church building was destroyed by the infamous ‘1944 storm’. In search of a larger property, Brother William Stevens, a strong supporter of Christian Education, envisioned growth in God’s church and donated this property at 25 Edge Hill Road. The school was then allowed occupancy in an old house on the property.
As the membership of the church increased however, they were able to add to the building and accommodated the school on an upstairs section. The population of the school also increased and so did the challenges. But God touched the hearts of his people and they helped the school to overcome most of the challenges. Mrs. Beryl Martin, a colporteur, was extremely instrumental in promoting the school in her daily ministry for the Lord. As the enrolment increased, there was a lack of space, hence some classes were held in the church vestry and under a shed at the side of the church. This was very difficult, as each new day teachers and students had to remove desks and chairs to and from the main school building for safe keeping. But our students were very successful nevertheless and the teachers very committed and dedicated.
As we progressed, the idea of operating a high school was conceived and so, in 1942, the preparatory school gave birth to the St. Ann’s Bay High School. The school was then registered as the “St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School” and was and continues to be supervised by one principal. This year, July 7, 2013 the high school will celebrate its 41st Graduation ceremony.
Its first principal, Dr. Vernon Cato, presently resides in the United States of America and still keeps in touch with the school. Other principals include, Dr. Val Chambers, Mrs. Pauline Hyatt, Mr. Donald Lewis, Mr. Learie Lewis, Mr.Dennis Whyte, Miss Janet Hinds, Miss Rhoan Perrin, Mr. Linford Farquharson, Mrs. Rachel Pyne, Mrs. Orchid Smith and currently, Mrs. Paulette Ambursley.
These teachers have made outstanding contributions to the school and have moved on: Mrs. Pauline Hyatt, Principal (1972), Mr. Donald Lewis, (Acting Principal) (1974), Miss Creta P. Lawrence, 1976, Mrs. Neta Hyacinth Hay, (1977/78), Miss Darnett McBean,(1978?79), Miss Sylvia Morgan, (1973?74), Mr. Samuel Mitchell (1978) Mrs. Vivienne Honeyghan, (1989), Noreen Smith, Miss Darnette McBean, Miss Peaches Campbell, Mrs. Patricia Brown, Mrs. Gillian Hall, Mrs. Judy Wong-Morgan, Mrs. Lurline Dobson, Mr. Richard McPherson, Mr. Raymond White, Mrs. Claire Gunter, Mrs. Julian Brown-Sinclair, Mrs. Tashana Bailey, Miss. Latoya Maxwell, Mrs. Kerian Hamilton, Miss Sheryl Allen, Mrs. Pauline Brown, and Miss Renae Brown, Mrs. Shirnette Fakhourie and Mrs. Christine Quinland. We applaud these teachers for their dedicated and committed service.
The St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School has been involved in a number of activities. As a Christian institution, we conduct what we call Week of Prayer, twice for the school year, one week in the Fall and one week in the Spring. These are weeks in which a Pastor is invited to share Christ from the Bible and students are encouraged to give their lives to Jesus and to accept Him as their personal Saviour in preparation for His soon return. Many students have accepted Christ ad their Saviour and have been baptized with the consent of their parents, some of whom are now Pastors in the Seventh day Adventist church. This programme is conducted for one (1) hour daily during the week.
The school is also involved in community outreach programmes. We believe that the school’s presence should be felt in the community in which it is located and so we have launched a community outreach programme which is called a “Day of Kindness”, when staff and students go out in the surrounding communities and distribute items of clothing and foodstuff to the poor and indigent of the community. The students comb the women’s hair and clean up their houses, sing and pray for them. Priority Magazines supplied by North Jamaica Conference of Seventh day Adventists, of which the school is a subsidiary, are also distributed to people in the communities.
The school also takes its students to different churches to perform in their various services, where they participated in the Sabbath School and Divine Service programmes.
St. Ann’s Bay High and Preparatory School also has its annual programmes: Fun Day, Girls’/ Boys’ Days, Careers’ Day, Sports Day, etc. in which the P.T.As plays a vital role.
There are also a number of clubs represented here: Red Cross, Pathfinder, Quiz, Sign Language, Performing Arts, Science, Speech and Drama and 4 H.
The St. Ann’s Bay High & Preparatory School is determined to carry out its mandate to train and mold young lives as we believe that “True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than the preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of physical, mental and spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.”
We anticipate God’s continued blessings and guidance as “TOGETHER WE BUILD.”
