BRIDGEPORT High School

On September 27, 1978, Bridgeport Secondary School opened with a total of 228 students, 107 boys and 121 girls. Leading them was a staff of 28 members, under Mrs Dyona Mclean, the founding principal. In 1987, Bridgeport Secondary School added another section to its operations and Bridgeport High Evening Institution began. It catered to school-leavers and other members of the wider Portmore community who wanted to better qualify themselves for the job market and for higher education.

In 1991, the name of the school changed to Bridgeport Comprehensive High. That year, the first batch of Common Entrance students passed the standardized exam for the

institution. In September 2000, under the Ministry of Education’s reclassification of secondary education, Bridgeport High School got its current name. It presently accommodates 1,783 students, 863 males and 920 females, with Aston Messam as principal.

The school boasts about its achievement in the performing arts, producing some prominent entertainers, including dancehall artiste Black Rhino. The school is also proud to have nursed Shantal Hamilton, who is on her way to becoming be a doctor. Bridgeport High operates on a shift system in which the lower school (grades 7 to 9) begins at 6:45 a.m. and ends at noon (blue shift), while grades 10 to 11 are in session from 11:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (red shift). All sixthformers attend school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., however.