Denbigh High School (Jamaica)

Primary. The administrative, academic and ancillary staff came to a total of twenty-seven persons and this number included founding principal Arthur Carson Bryant. Even from that early stage the school revealed its limitless potential by performing well in the Grade Nine Achievement Test and earned for itself the reputation of being one of the better Junior Secondary Schools. In September 1974 the school began operating a shift system and gained a name change to Denbigh Secondary, as grades ten and eleven were added. Yet another change of name and status took place in 1995 when it was reclassified as Denbigh Comprehensive High School and received its first set of Common Entrance awardees. In a bid to make tertiary education more accessible to the community, the school expanded its role in 1996 to become a Distance Education Centre for the University of the West Indies, now known as UWI Open Campus. Today persons are able to access degrees in Management Studies and Teacher Education, as well as certificates and diplomas in Public Administration and Teacher Education. This master move has put Denbigh High School among the ranks of the few schools where a student can enter at Grade seven and leave with a Masters Degree. Currently Denbigh High School has students ranging from grades 7-13.The school caters to the educational needs of ages twelve (12) through to about eighteen (18) years across grades 7-9 having six (6) streams. Students are able to do vocational subjects such has Electrical Works, Art and Craft, Food and Nutrition, Agriculture, Cosmetology Clothing and Textiles and Cabinet Making. The curriculum carries the full complement of academic subjects, including all the sciences and business subjects. The school now boasts four well equipped computer labs and a Multi-Media Room, thereby enabling the integration of technology to improve learning. Academically the school is on a path of steady upward and sustained growth, as the school now sits in the top ten non-traditional schools based on CXC results! Extra curricular activities span a wide range of clubs and sports which assist in the all-round development of students, as well as advancing the good name of the school. Representatives of the school have won medals for 4-H, Spanish Competitions, JCDC Festival of Arts Competition, Quadrille, Netball, Football and Culinary Arts. In order for the school to maximize space, it operates on an extended day schedule, whereby Grades 7-9 begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. and Grades 10 and 11 begin at 9:00a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. 6th Form students operate on a ‘Flexi-Day’ which runs from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The School has seen four Principals, the late Mr. Bryant, Mrs. Joan L. Wint, Mrs. Jean A. Porter and Mrs Troupe who have enabled the academic and physical transformation of the school.