Lacovia High School

Last updated
Lacovia High School
Location
Lacovia High School
Lacovia, St Elizabeth

Jamaica
Coordinates 18°04′49″N77°45′39″W / 18.0802°N 77.7607°W / 18.0802; -77.7607
Information
Motto Per Ardua Ad Astra
(Through Toil to the Stars)
Founded1970
FounderGovernment of Jamaica
School districtMinistry of Education Region V [1]
ChairpersonMr.Valdino Pengs
PrincipalMr. Andrew Morris- Acting 2022-Present
Grades7 - 13
GenderCo-educational
Age12to 18
Student to teacher ratio21:1 [2]
Hours in school day07:00 - 17:00
Campus size8 acres (3.2 ha)
Nickname COBY (See Lacovia)
Lacovia High School.JPG

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. [3]

Contents

History

Founded in 1970, [4] when the Hon. Edwin Allen was minister of education, [5] the then Lacovia Junior Secondary, was built by the Jamaican government on eight acres of land to accommodate 650 students from Lacovia and surrounding communities. [4] Over the years the school has changed its name several times [4] as it gradually aligned with traditional high schools. [6]

Many changes and additions have been made to the school building during its nearly 40 years of existence with the most recent block of classrooms completed in 2006. [4] The construction of the new block was financed by the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture at a cost of $JA  14,931,030.75. [7]

Prior to its upgrade to high school status, Lacovia was a relatively unknown entrant in high school competitions. The school now takes part in several inter-school competitions at parish, regional and national levels.

Today

The school accepts students from the parish of St. Elizabeth and from areas within the borders of neighbouring parishes. [4] Almost all CSEC subjects are offered by the school plus other recognized certificates such as NCTVET [4] with Spanish is offered to CSEC level. [4] Over 1600 students attend the school, taught by a staff of over 74 teachers working two shifts. [2]

Lacovia High school has modern science, food and nutrition and computer laboratories funded by the Jamaican government. [4]

Despite achievements in sports and academics, one of the most valued qualities of the school is its comparatively high standard of discipline. [4]

Curriculum

The school offers a broad educational curriculum encompassing academic subjecta, vocational training, sports, and various extramural clubs and societies. [4] In its early years, the school provided vocational training in subjects such as auto mechanics, cosmetology, home economics and plumbing. [4] Today, after undergoing several government driven changes, Lacovia High School operates as a traditional high school, focusing on all subject areas of secondary education, while still offering training in vocational subjects. [4]

Extracurricular activities

Students at Lacovia High have access to clubs and societies that include: 4-H Club, DaCosta Cup, Cadet, Red Cross, ISCF, Netball, debate, Girl Guides, Headley Cup, and a quiz club (Schools’ Challenge Quiz, Food and Nutrition, Science, and Heritage). [4]

The school topped Zone E match tables in the 2008 DaCosta Cup, ahead of former champions St. Elizabeth Technical High School and Munro College. [8] The Lacovia team earned a place in the semi-finals and finished third nationwide. [9]

In 2008, Lacovia High advanced to the third round (top 16 schools) in the TVJ’s Schools Challenge Quiz competition.[ citation needed ] The Lacovia team's performance in the quiz matches augmented the nation's positive view of the school. [4]

That same year, the school won the national art competition sponsored by the Scientific Research Council of Jamaica (SRC). [4]

In recent times, the school has repeatedly won several competitions including: the Associations of Science Teachers of Jamaica (ASTJ) quiz and Exhibition, the 4-H Achievement Day parish competitions, the St. Elizabeth Credit Union Debate [10] and the St. Elizabeth Heritage quiz. [4]

Emblems

The 2008 art team and coaches display their trophies and certificates, and provide examples of contemporary uniforms. Lacovia 2008 Art Competition Winners.JPG
The 2008 art team and coaches display their trophies and certificates, and provide examples of contemporary uniforms.
Colour Aquamarine
Motto Per Ardua Ad Astra (Through Toil to the Stars)
UniformGirls at the school wear a blouse and tunic in the lower grades) or a blouse and skirt in the upper grades. [4] The blouse of one school shift is blue plaid, while the other is plain white. Tunics and skirts are plain blue. [4] In the past, senior girls wore a yellow skirt and white blouse. [4] Boys on both shifts wear khaki with epaulettes (grades 7–9) or ties (grades 10 and 11). [4] The epaulette or tie is either plaid or plain blue and corresponds with the girls uniform to differentiate the two shifts.


Principals

From its inception to date, Lacovia High has had seven principals: [4]

Mrs V M Falkner1970–1977
Mr A J Farquharson1977–1985
Mr Moses L. Dodd1985–1994
Mrs M L Samuel1994–1996
Mr Curlew Williams1996–2003
Mrs Ruby Whyte2003–2010
Mrs. Hope Morgan

Mr. Ricardo Bennett

2010–2018

2018-Present

Mr. Williams is credited with improving the school's science program, while his successor and current principal, Mrs. Whyte has improved the image of the school in the parish and the country at large by encouraging entry to as many inter-school competitions as possible. She has also increased staff motivation resulting in higher CSEC passes and other benefits.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naparima College</span> Secondary school in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

Naparima College is a public secondary school for boys in Trinidad and Tobago. Located in San Fernando, the school was founded in 1894 but received official recognition in 1900. It was established by Dr. Kenneth J. Grant, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary working among the Indian population in Trinidad. The school was one of the first to educate Indo-Trinidadians and played an important and crucial role in the development of an Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian professional class. Naparima is derived from the Arawak word (A) naparima, meaning ‘large water’, or from Nabarima, Warao, for ‘Father of the waves.’

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's College, Jamaica</span> Public secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica, Cricket West Indies

St. George's College is a public Catholic secondary school, located in Kingston, Jamaica. The school was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1850. It was established by 21 Spanish Jesuits who had been exiled from Colombia as part of a religious persecution. Initially founded as a school for boys only, in 2005 the College opened its pre-university programme to female students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presentation College, San Fernando</span> Male secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago

Presentation College San Fernando is a selective, government-assisted Roman Catholic Boys’ Secondary School located in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. It claims to be the first Catholic secondary school in South Trinidad, having been established around 1930 in the basement of San Fernando Presbytery. It relocated to the Colony Buildings at La Pique in 1931. Originally named St. Benedict's College, the name was changed in 1948 when management of the school was assumed by the Presentation Brothers.

<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 private, liberal-arts institution owned and operated by the Jamaica Union Conference (JMUC) and the Atlantic Caribbean Union (ATCU) of Seventh-day Adventists, and is located in Jamaica. With its main campus only 2 miles south of Mandeville town, in Manchester, and three other campuses situated in Kingston, Montego Bay and Salem Runaway Bay, St. Ann, the university offers a number of professional, pre-professional and vocational programmes in a spiritually wholesome and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. Established in 1907, NCU currently enjoys an average yearly enrollment of over five thousand students, from up to 35 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Guyana</span> Overview of education in Guyana

Education in Guyana is provided largely by the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Education and its arms in the ten different regions of the country. Guyana's education system is a legacy from its time as British Guiana, and is similar to that of the other anglophone member states of the Caribbean Community, which are affiliated to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). School curricula, funding, standards and other policies are set by the central government and implemented through the Ministry of Education and related agencies. The Education System is divided into eleven districts, ten of which correspond to the national administrative and geographical regions of the country, while the capital, Georgetown, is treated as a separate education district, district 11. With 8.3% of its GDP spent on education, Guyana sits with Cuba, Iceland, Denmark and Botswana as among the few countries with top spending on education.

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

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

Calabar High School is an all-male secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica. It was established by the Jamaica Baptist Union in 1912 for the children of Baptist ministers. It was named after the Kalabari Kingdom later anglicized by the British to Calabar, in present-day Nigeria. It has produced at least five Rhodes Scholars, and is respected for its outstanding performance in track and field.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Elizabeth Technical High School</span> Secondary school in Santa Cruz, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica

St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) is a co-educational secondary school in Santa Cruz, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica. This year 2021 marks 25 years of STETHS Alumni Association (Inc.) and on 60 years since the inception of our alma mater. STETHS Alumni Association USA Inc. was formed and celebrated by STETHS Classes 1961 - 2020 and its President Donovan Wilson.

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

Glenmuir High School (GHS) is a Jamaican secondary school located in May Pen, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. It is among the top performing secondary schools in the country. Glenmuir educates over 1,700 pupils, aged between 10 and 20 years. Glenmuir was founded in 1958 by the Rt. Reverend Percival William Gibson, the Bishop of Jamaica, as a private co-educational secondary school of the Anglican Diocese, on a 25-acre site in suburban May Pen. The school motto is "Flagrans Veritatis Studio".

Wolmer's Schools, also referred to as Wolmer's Trust Group of Schools in Kingston, Jamaica, currently consists of Wolmer's Pre-School, Wolmer's Preparatory School and two high schools: Wolmer's Trust High School For Girls and Wolmer's Trust High School for Boys. Both are schools of choice for many Jamaican students sitting Primary Exit Profile examinations. While acknowledged as separate institutions, each school shares a school song, crest, and motto, "Age Quod Agis", a Latin phrase that translates as "Whatever you do, do it well". Another English translation is “Whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities”. Wolmer's Schools closely resemble British schools of the 1950s more than those today, a trend that can be noted of the entire Jamaican schooling system. Wolmer's Boys' and Girls' have been deemed some of the top schools in the Caribbean and performs well in exit examinations (CSEC/CAPE), especially in the Sciences and Mathematics.

Knox College is a co-educational high school for both day pupils and boarders in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. The other institutions that form the complex are: the Neighbourhood Early Childhood Institute, Knox Junior School, and Knox Community College. It was co-founded by Rev. Dr. Lewis Davidson and Mr. David Bent in 1947 and is named after John Knox.

Ascot High School is a public Catholic secondary school, located in Kingston, Jamaica. The co-educational school was founded in 1997.

Saint Mary's College is a high school located in Above Rocks in Saint Catherine, Jamaica. It was founded in 1955 by its first principal, Father Edmund Cheney S.J. of St. Mary's Mission Catholic church.

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">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.

York Castle High School is a co-educational secondary school in Jamaica. The school has educated some of the region's best leaders and it continues to play a pivotal role in Jamaica's development.

Titchfield High School is a secondary high school in Port Antonio, Jamaica, in the northern part of Portland Parish. The school was established in January 1786, and is the fifth-oldest high school in the country, after Wolmer's Boys', one of the Wolmer's Schools (1729), Manning's School (1738), St. Jago High School (1744), and Rusea's High School (1777). In the 18th century, these schools originated from their benefactors’ concerns for the education of the country’s poor, usually the children of poor whites, as there was no system in place for the education of the children of slaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusea's High School</span> Public school (government funded) school in Lucea, Hanover, Jamaica

Rusea's High School in Lucea, Hanover, Jamaica, established in 1777, is the fourth oldest, continuously operated high school in Jamaica, after Wolmer's Boys', one of the Wolmer's Schools (1729), Manning's School (1738) and St. Jago High School (1744).

References

  1. ↑ "List of schools and principals". Archived from the original on 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2009-10-21. Ministry of Education list of schools
  2. 1 2 Ministry of Education Profile of Schools 2008/2009 Archived 2009-12-29 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. ↑ "Go-Local Jamaica". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-05-18. Go-Local Jamaica
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Interview with principal Ruby Whyte on 2009-05-11.
  5. ↑ "Edwin Leopold Allen". Archived from the original on 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2009-10-21. Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) news.
  6. ↑ Names used: Lacovia Junior Secondary, Lacovia New Secondary, Lacovia Comprehensive High and Lacovia High.
  7. ↑ http://www.ocg.gov.jm/website_files/contracts_endorsed/awards-july2005.html Office of the Contractor-Generals
  8. ↑ "Lacovia tops Zone E". Go-Local Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: Gleaner Company. 2008-09-24. Archived from the original on 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  9. ↑ Frater, Adrian (2008-11-14). "Lacovia, St James in last eight". The Jamaica Online Star. Gleaner Company. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  10. ↑ "Holmwood Wins 2006 CU Debating Challenge". Youth News. Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League Limited. 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.