St Hilda’s delays boarders’ return

Nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa battered St Hilda’s Diocesan High School in Brown’s Town, St Ann, leaving an estimated $40 million in damage, the institution has been forced to delay the full reopening of its boarding facility for the new academic year.

In social media posts over the weekend ahead of Monday’s reopening of schools, the administration advised that “boarders will remain at home until further notice”.

On Monday, Principal Heather Reid-Johnson said only 40 newly enrolled students were in boarding at the all-girls’ school, which typically accommodates about 200 boarders.

She said the hurricane damaged the dormitory and several classrooms, and repair work continues on the affected buildings.

“It’s very bad. A whole section was damaged. We’re not able to use that section, which we refer to as the ‘main building’,” Reid-Johnson revealed.

The principal was unable to say when the boarding facility would be fully reopened.

Despite the storm’s disruption of classes, St Hilda’s recorded strong performances in this year’s Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations.

“In spite of the challenges we experienced coming out of Melissa, with us having serious damage and us not being able to use some of our classrooms and so on, we did what we had to do, and the girls did well in CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) and CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination),” Reid-Johnson said.

“There are about 23 courses in CAPE; there are 20 of them with 100 per cent pass. In CSEC, in most of the subjects [had a pass rate of] 90 [per cent] and above and quite a few [got] 100 per cent. So, coming out of the CSEC examinations, the girls did exceptionally well. We have to congratulate them through rough times.”

She said school days were extended until 4 p.m. following the hurricane, to make up for lost instructional time.

“And it paid off; the girls really put in the work,” she added.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com