Head Girl of Hampton, Careka Smith (third left), makes a point. Listening intently are: (from left), Deputy Head Girl, Joedian Morris; Petla Davis; guidance counsellor, Beverly James; vice-principal, Rose-Ann Lounges; Deputy Head Girl, Alexa Simpson; principal, Heather Murray; and vice-principal, Evol Beckford. - JIS Photo
We are often bombarded with stories about school violence, underachievement and indiscipline among our youth.
Nevertheless, Jamaicans can continue to hold on to hope amid the despair, as some institutions are gloriously balancing the scale with excellence, discipline and what the good book describes as "good success".
The Hampton School in Malvern, St Elizabeth, with a population of 1,184 students and 63 teachers, is the oldest all-girls educational institution on the island.
However, the school had much more to celebrate during this, its 150th year of existence.
"Hampton has a very friendly learning environment. It has teachers that are different, and, maybe we are blessed to have them. They are very dedicated and they just seem to put out that extra effort to get all students to perform at their best at all times," said Careka Smith, head girl at the school.
The institution's successes
Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall shakes the hand of Heather Murray, headmistress of the Hampton School, while Lady Hall (third left), Donna Parchment (right), board chairman, and students share in the unveiling of the school's 150th anniversary plaque.
Smith's sentiments are well supported by the institution's successes in last year's Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, where the pass rate ranged from 75 per cent-100 per cent in 24 subject areas.
Quite remarkably, the institution boasts a 100 per cent pass rate in 13 subjects, including history, office administration, home management, economics, religious education, food and nutrition, agricultural science and chemistry.
"The exceptional talent I have seen here has reaffirmed my faith in the young people of today. Every time we set an expectation, the young ladies here rose to that challenge. Of course, there are those who do not, but I can say 90 per cent of them manage to work to the standards that we have here," said Heather Murray, principal of the school.
Vice-principal, and a past student at the school, Evol Beckford, believes that Hampton, being a boarding institution, helps students to deliver exceptional academic achievements.
"Boarding schools provide a structure; growing up, if you are not in a structured environment, you then lose your way. But at school, here you are ruled by the bell. I came here as a little 11-year-old, and even now, if 6:15 a.m. finds me in the bed on any day, I am not my normal self," Beckord shared.
"You respond to the bell. It tells you that it is time to get out of bed, to really go to classes; time to do your home work; it speaks to what time to eat your meal; time for recreation. Boarding is really an ordered structure, which, if you adapt to it, it lives with you," said Beckford.
School built
The 150-year-old educational institution was established as a result of the generosity of Hugh Munroe, a wealthy landowner in St Elizabeth who died in September of 1797 when slavery was still in force. In his will, he ordered a school built for the free people residing in the parish. Nothing was done until the late 1850s when the Munroe School for both sexes was established in Black River.
Two years later, an all-girls' school was established on the Munroe property in Malvern. After moving to different locations in the parish, the school finally settled at its present location in 1887.