Preparation in high gear for new academic year
Published:Tuesday | August 23, 2022 | 12:07 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
As the clock winds down to September 5, school administrators are fine-tuning pandemic-shelved programmes to be reintroduced and carrying out repairs to run-down facilities to start the 2022-2023 academic year with a bang.
At Calabar Infant, Primary and Junior High in downtown Kingston, Principal Joset Leslie is pushing to bring back as many extra-curricular activities as possible, including spiritual and cultural programmes, which were suspended during two years of online lessons.
“We are trying to bring back everything to just let the talent run free,” she told The Gleaner.
Leslie said that an old classroom, which previously housed grade three students, is now being rehabilitated and repurposed to serve as a multifunctional room.
It will also provide a safer space for students staying beyond the 2 p.m. dismissal time, instead of hanging around on limited seating in the schoolyard.
This will also allow teachers to better monitor when a student leaves the compound.
The room will be furnished with desks and chairs to do homework, a creative corner for students to express themselves through art and craft, and a television set, which will display educational programmes.
BRINGING BACK COMFORT
Paint left over from Labour Day activities in May will be used to bring a colourful splash of life to the walls.
“[It’s] just to get them back to school, to get them focused on what they need to do and where we need to get them,” Leslie said, noting that the school will continue its transformation to become a safe haven for students coming mainly from communities in Kingston Central, which are prone to outbreaks of violence.
“We really want to ensure that all our students and our staff members feel comfortable,” the principal said.
At the Allman Town Primary School, work was in full swing on Monday to prepare for reopening in roughly two weeks.
Principal La-Toya Nesbitt said that classrooms were already being painted, aged whiteboards were being replaced, and deep-cleaning exercises would commence soon.
Plans are also in place to paint murals and other teaching aids along the grade corridors.
She noted that the school has partnered with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to introduce sports and fitness, reading and other programmes.
A mentorship programme will also be introduced with the assistance of community leaders, she said.
A drumming programme for boys to channel their energies is also on the cards, as some have been exhibiting acts of aggression as a result of absenteeism.
EARLY PREPARATION MODE
In Kingston Western, Tivoli Gardens High School headmaster Marvin Johnson noted that he had been in preparation mode from as early as July.
Rusted chairs have been refurbished and termite-infested desks have been repaired, he said, noting that it would have been more expensive to purchase new furniture.
Grade seven classrooms, as such, are still utilising years-old benches, which seat two students as opposed to detached desks and chairs.
“We had these before ... and we can’t discard them, so we repaired them,” Johnson said.
The lounge area within the staffroom was also renovated and the canteen floor retiled.
Bathrooms and classroom walls in both the lower and upper schools have been spruced up with well-needed paint jobs.
The school’s CCTV system has also been upgraded to allow for improved monitoring of activities across the compound, with conflict-resolution training being introduced for all employees.
“Pretty much, we are in good standing where our projects are concerned, so we trying to wrap up now,” Johnson said as the deep-cleaning process began on Monday.