... No charge for extra classes
THE CAMP is the backbone of the school’s success in mathematics as it started fostering a sense of dedication to the subject and a belief by students in their ability to handle math. Capitalising on that, the school added other measures.
“We have weekend classes also and during the week because we’re a shift school. Students who are on the morning shift stay back for extra classes, and those on the evening shift come in early for extra classes.”
There is no charge to students for the extra classes. Students who live on campus during the two-week Easter camp are required to contribute towards their meals.
“I’m definitely pleased with the results,” Johnson said. “And of importance to note is that we are ranked, in terms of mathematics, in the top 10 in Jamaica in upgraded high schools, and that is a ranking done by The Gleaner’s Bill Johnson.”
From the perspective of vice-principal Donovan Thomas, the 450 per cent increase in the pass rate for mathematics over the six-year period means much more than just numbers.
“If this is not a paradigm shift, then tell me what it is,” Thomas argued.
“I feel strongly that we are among the top schools in mathematics on the north coast. Even if our numbers don’t match up with traditional schools, the fact that we’re an upgraded high school, getting students who would have reflected, when they come in at grade seven, reading below a grade six level. Most of them are reading at grade four, grade five. We have students who are reading at pre-primer and at basic school level because they are at risk. Yet, we have students who are coming out of those programmes, remedial as it is, who are able to come here and pass math, among other subjects. If it’s not a paradigm shift, then tell me what it is.
“When I say a paradigm shift, what I mean is that upgraded high schools seem to have been the Cinderella in the system because we get the students with the lower grades, yet still we are able to bring them up to get a range one in a subject with straight As. It’s a change in the attitude, it’s a change in the values, it’s a movement, what we are doing.”