Holmwood Technical High School

The initial enrolment was fifty male students who boarded at the school under the tutelage of Mr. Rogers the first superintendent. At the time the school owned Denham Farm in Chudleigh and the boys practiced practical agriculture there. Ancillary disciplines of wood-work, book-keeping and other related studies were taught at the school. In 1961 the school was converted to a Technical High School a

nd Mr. Johnson appointed as principal. Agriculture was discontinued and the farm in Chudleigh sold. The curriculum was changed to traditional high school subjects with the practical subjects of Metal-Work, Auto-mechanic, Woodwork, Technical Drawing, Cookery, Dressmaking, Typewriting, Accounts, Shorthand, Office Practice, Surveying and Electrical Installation added to the curriculum. The school also became co-educational and girls boarding was afforded. The school served mainly the parishes of Manchester, Trelawny and St. Ann but students came as far as Westmoreland. Johnson was succeeded as principal in 1971 by Mr. Hamilton. The school made considerable physical expansion in 1974 with the construction of a three storey block of classrooms and six staff flats. Agriculture was re-introduced into the curriculum and the student population increased. The eighties saw the inclusion of a vocational department to the school and the nineties the addition of a computer science laboratory; this latter through a gift by the Canadian Corporation and the Jamaica Computer Society supported by the Past Association in Canada. The school presently has a population of over fifteen hundred (1500) students and is currently under the leadership of Mr. Paul Bailey, Principal; Mrs. Jean James, Vice-Principal; and Mr. Chester McCarty. The school is divided into the following departments:


• Mathematics
• Science
• Home Economics
• Technical Studies
• Business Studies
• General Studies
• Physical Education
• Guidance