Black River High School (Black River, Jamaica)

Last updated
Black River High School
Address
Black River High School (Black River, Jamaica)
80 High Street



Coordinates 18°01′55″N77°51′36″W / 18.031954°N 77.859986°W / 18.031954; -77.859986
Information
Motto'We Create Our Own Destiny'
Founded1970
School districtMinistry of Education Region V [1]
PrincipalRoderick Harley [2]
Grades7 - 13
GenderCo-educational
Age10to 19
Campus size16 acres (6.5 ha)
Website https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialBlackRiverHighAlumni

Black River High School is a high school located in Black River, the parish capital of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

Contents

History

A privately-operated high school was first established in Black River in September 1941. It was advertised as having preparatory, secondary, and commercial departments, boarding facilities, and its own swimming pool. The school was based at Waterloo House in Black River, a former hotel, and was led by Lynette Stewart, the wife of Waterloo's owner, Ferdinand Stewart. [3] The school operated until the early 1960s. After the school closed, Waterloo became a guest house again. [4] [5] Joyce Robinson, who later in her career became a noted librarian, taught at the school from 1944 to 1949. [6]

Black River Junior Secondary School was opened in September 1970 as a result of a World Bank-funded educational project, and was built on lands belonging to the Church of England. $86,393 Jamaican dollars were originally allotted for its development. [7] [8] The school was officially opened on 12 May 1971 by Edwin Allen, the Minister of Education, who declared that "bright children must be taught by bright teachers" and advocated for the development of teacher education in Jamaica. [9]

The Black River High School is situated about half a mile from the town of Black River. The Anglican Church in Black River acquired 12 acres of land through loans and grants. The Francis' family donated 4 acres making a total of 16 acres on which the government built the Black River High School.[ citation needed ]

The Junior Secondary school was opened in September 1970 to house 655 students on a straight shift from grades 7–9.

In 1974, the school was put on a two shift system since grades 10 and 11 were added. The word "Junior" was dropped from the name of the school.[ citation needed ]

In September 1998, Mr. J Beckford introduced the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The subjects initially offered were Caribbean Studies, History, Mathematics and Statistics. Today the subjects offered have increased to include (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Environmental Science), Sociology, Literature in English, Management of Business, Pure Mathematics, and Law and Economics, among others.[ citation needed ]

The school offers a range of extra curricular activities. In 2009, they were winners of the TVJ's All Together Sing competition for high school choirs in Jamaica after entering for the first time. They have received numerous gold, silver, and bronze medals for participating in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) competition on a yearly basis.[ citation needed ]

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica</span> Country in the Caribbean Sea

Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi), it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 km (78 nmi) south of Cuba, 191 km (103 nmi) west of Hispaniola, and 215 km (116 nmi) southeast of the Cayman Islands.

Edward Kamau Brathwaite, CHB, was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon. Formerly a professor of Comparative Literature at New York University, Brathwaite was the 2006 International Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, for his volume of poetry Born to Slow Horses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the West Indies</span> International university in the Caribbean

The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory.

Edward Alston Cecil Baugh CD was a Jamaican poet and scholar, recognised as an authority on the work of Derek Walcott, whose Selected Poems (2007) Baugh edited, having in 1978 authored the first book-length study of the Nobel-winning poet's work, Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica College</span> Public secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica

Jamaica College is a public, Christian, secondary school and sixth form for boys in Kingston, Jamaica. It was established in 1789 by Charles Drax, who was the grand-nephew of wealthy Barbadian sugar planter James Drax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Caribbean University</span> University in Jamaica

Northern Caribbean University (NCU) is a university in Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica.

St. Mary High School is a secondary school located in the Highgate area of St Mary, Jamaica.

Education in Jamaica is primarily modeled on the British education system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayview Secondary School</span> High school in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

Bayview Secondary School, initially known as Bayview High School is a grade 9–12, 2-semester secondary school operated by the York Region District School Board. It is located just north of the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Bayview S.S. was officially opened on March 19, 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacovia High School</span> School in Jamaica

Lacovia High School (COBY) is a government-owned, co-educational, first-to-sixth form, non-traditional, secondary school located in Lacovia in the parish of St Elizabeth, Jamaica. According to Go-Local Jamaica, an online branch of the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, Lacovia High has recently been noticed by the upper echelons of society. The school has outperformed a number of other well-known similar institutions, with some students sitting CXC and CSEC exams passing in as many as ten subjects.

Guy's Hill High School is a secondary school in the village of Guy's Hill, Saint Catherine, Jamaica. Established in 1971, the school serves students twelve to twenty years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linstead Primary and Junior High School</span> School in Linstead, Jamaica

Linstead Primary & Junior High is an elementary school in Linstead, Jamaica; one of oldest in the island. Despite several official name changes it has always been colloquially known as Linstead School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwall College, Jamaica</span> Public college in Saint James Parish, Jamaica

Cornwall College is a public high school for boys established in 1896 and located on Orange Street in Montego Bay, Saint James, Jamaica. It is the third oldest high school in the county of Cornwall. As of the 2022-23 school year, the school had an enrollment of just over 1,500 students and 80 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 19:1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardenne High School</span> High School in Kingston, Jamaica

Ardenne High School is a coeducational, first-to-sixth form secondary school located in St. Andrew, Jamaica. The institution is best known for its high academic standards, among the highest in the Caribbean, and for its achievements in the performing arts and several sports. Most notably basketball and netball. The school's only principal is Miss Nadine A Molloy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Manley</span> Premier of Jamaica from 1959 to 1962

Norman Washington Manley was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate of universal suffrage, which was granted by the British colonial government to the colony in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Morris Knibb</span>

Mary Morris Knibb, MBE was a Jamaican teacher, social reformer and philanthropist. She founded the Morris Knibb Preparatory School and donated a building which is used as the headquarters of the Moravian Church in Jamaica as well as land for construction of a community center. Morris Knibb was a women's rights activist and the first elected councilwomen in Jamaica. She was the first woman to vie for a seat in the House when Universal Suffrage was granted to all Jamaicans.

Anglican High School, formerly known as the Church of England High School is a secondary girls' school located in St. George's, Grenada. It is one of eighteen secondary schools located on the Caribbean island of Grenada and was founded in 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsie Payne</span>

Dame Elsie Payne was a teacher and following independence she became the first Barbadian-born principal of Queen's College in Bridgetown. She was the first woman to receive a damehood in Barbados, for her long dedication to education and nation.

Shirley Miller is a Jamaican attorney and one of the first women admitted as Queen's Counsel in the Caribbean. Admitted to the inner bar in 1971, she became the first Queen's Counsel in Jamaica and has served in numerous capacities, including as head of the Legal Reform Department and on the Electoral Advisory Committee. She served on a committee of three to review Jamaica's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and was honored as a commander in the Order of Distinction, as well as receiving the Order of Jamaica for her contributions to legal reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1944 Jamaica hurricane</span> Category 3 Atlantic hurricane in 1944

The 1944 Jamaica hurricane was a deadly major hurricane that swept across the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico in August 1944. Conservative estimates placed the storm's death toll at 116. The storm was already well-developed when it was first noted passing westward over the Windward Islands into the Caribbean Sea on August 16. A ship near Grenada with 74 occupants was lost, constituting a majority of the deaths associated with the storm. The following day, the storm intensified into a hurricane, reaching its peak strength on August 20 with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). At this intensity, the major hurricane made landfall on Jamaica later that day, traversing the length of the island. The damage wrought was extensive, with the strong winds destroying 90 percent of banana trees and 41 percent of coconut trees in Jamaica; the overall damage toll was estimated at "several millions of dollars". The northern coast of Jamaica saw the most severe damage, with widespread structural damage and numerous homes destroyed across several parishes. In Port Maria, the storm was considered the worst since 1903.

References

  1. "Black River High | National Council on Education".
  2. "Black River High | National Council on Education".
  3. "Black River High School - Opens". The Daily Gleaner. 9 August 1941. p. 20.
  4. "Waterloo Guest House". Jamaica Travel and Culture.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  5. "Waterloo Guest House History". Waterloo Guest House. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  6. Marriott, Louis (23 May 2013). "Joyce Robinson: institution builder". The Gleaner. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  7. "Appraisal of Education Project Jamaica" (PDF). World Bank. Annex 11. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  8. Allen, E. L. (15 March 1971). "The Westwood affair". The Daily Gleaner. p. 20.
  9. "Allen Condemns 'Convoy System' In Schools". The Daily Gleaner. 15 May 1971. p. 21.
  10. "The importance of youth in our sports training programmes". The Daily Gleaner. 27 February 1965. p. 4.
  11. "Pittsburgh University lauds UWI postgraduate". The Daily Gleaner. 1 June 1998. p. 23.