The St Elizabeth school rising from ridicule | Lowest PEP score is 80.5%

The school was oftentimes ridiculed for its low academic performance, and at one point suffered the ignominy of being called ‘the hospital for dunce students’. But in the last half-a-decade the group has been able to hold their collective heads high with general performance taking an upward trajectory.

This year, the 53-year-old institution – founded by the Bull Savannah Seventh Day Adventist Church – and with a population of 150 enrolled pupils, was the pride and joy of many in the community following the publishing of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results.

All 14 of its students who sat the annual exam logged impressive scores. Topping the list is Bianca Powell, who will continue her education at the prestigious all-girl Hampton High after a placement score of 346.9 or 99.1%, while the student with the lowest average in percentage terms chalked up a remarkable 80.5 percent.

While 2020 has been a year of great tribulation, for the small teaching staff at Bull Savannah SDA Prep it has been one of celebration. A sort of coming of age you could say, as they climbed to dizzying heights that their detractors thought was unattainable. Indeed, the writing was on the wall, as this year’s PEP performance essentially just eclipsed those of the previous year.

The chief architect behind the amazing transformation is principal Tyrone Thomas, a former visual arts teacher at BB Coke High School in the parish.

Thomas, who was born and raised in Planters Hall, a community north of Old Harbour, took over the reins six years ago, and together with a team of committed teachers, were able to turn things around to the point where registration for the new academic school year had to be closed before summer even started.

“Our tuition is like $15,000 per term, and most of our parents are low income earners. These are parents who send their children to primary schools and realize that they’re not getting as much out of it.

“So most of the times we get a lot of students with learning disabilities. A matter of fact, for years we have been trying to get rid of the stigma that we don’t treat slow learners,” said Thomas, an educator of 16 years.

The institution that was once seen as a hub for slow learners or children with learning disabilities is now a rising star that everyone now look-up to and thinks highly of. Many of its doubters are now believers.

Its success, Thomas told Old Harbour News, is built on a solid literacy programme, as majority of those who enter its fold are usually reading below the required levels.

Amongst this year’s successful batch, one child has mild autism, another with very short attention span and a student who barely could read during their first year at the school. To further amplify the enormity of their task, six of the 14 students were repeaters. Special intervention programmes where created and students grouped according to their ability.

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That task was handed to Daneisha McKenzie-Anderson, a passionate literacy specialist who stops at nothing to bring those under her care up to the required standards.

“Communication is key,” McKenzie-Anderson, a graduate of Moneague Teachers College, with six years classroom experience said. “I communicate with the parents a lot. You have to create that form of bond with the parents and let them know ‘ok this is where the child is and we are trying to get him or her up here’. I try as much as possible to make them comfortable in my class.”

McKenzie-Anderson is one of three specialist teachers assigned by Thomas shortly after he took charge. This model was instituted in 2015, something that the government is just testing but yet to streamline in public schools at the primary level.

“We realized that the students were gaining a lot more knowledge because they are sitting in front of a teacher who love what they’re teaching,” the principal stated.

Teachers like Staceann Spencer taught mathematics exclusively, while Kaniel Clarke specializes in only social studies and integrated science. All specialist teachers will have the students for a minimum of three years, particularly the last half of their primary education. In their classes, the tiniest accomplishment is celebrated, while lessons are a constant moment of motivation, Thomas said.

“Any time you have a slow learner you can’t have them in a big setting. You have to have that one-on-one session with them. They tend to learn better in that sort of environment,” he said. 

“When you see them shy away and cry, it’s because they are afraid of failing. But once they get it right they develop the confidence and begin to start trust themselves more.”

With the world beset by the coronavirus pandemic, education, like everything else, has been forced to digitize rapidly. Many governments around the world continue to struggle in making this adjustment to what is being dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But for the Thomas-led educational train at Bull Sav SDA Prep, it is a case of adapting and conforming to new ideals.

The Schoology Learning Management System is its preferred choice, Thomas notes, which had “100 percent participation,” during the period of lockdown from early March. This was made possible with donors assisting parents with data. 

And with the new academic year being delayed until October, Thomas said they will be ready.

“Hopefully one day we can build a high school,” he told Old Harbour News. “But the goal for now is to go totally digital. So if the government choose to lockdown school before it opens we will be fine.”

Sheryl Ellis, a parent and an educator at a government-run primary institution, has nothing but high praises for the school. Both children of Ellis are students of the school, the elder a recent graduate.

“As a school they are getting one hundred percent in literacy, one hundred percent in numeracy so it's a school of choice for my child or children,” she said to Old Harbour News. “I'm thankful to the teachers for the work they have put in for my children. And I can proudly stand and say I will always be behind Bull Savannah SDA Prep.”

Kahsheka Morgan, the mother of Powell, who has earned a government scholarship, also lauded the school for their dedication and exceptional commitment towards the education of every child in its care.

“They see the potential in the child and if the child or the parent isn’t doing what they are supposed to do… they will call-in the parent and suggests what is the child's weakest areas and suggest things they could do. There is evening classes and the principal is really dedicated. From he came to the school he has been doing a really exceptional job, he really cares about the well-being of your child.”