IT’S a school with a rich cultural history, but principal of Trench Town High Susan Bloomfield now wants the school to become known for its achievements in academics, sports and the performing arts as well.

Located in a tough inner-city community, the school has not always been the first choice for students. But ever since her appointment as the school’s head administrator last May, the principal has inadvertently taken on the post as the institution’s new brand manager. The change is especially welcome as the school celebrates its 50-year anniversary.

“We no longer want the school to be considered in a negative light. We want the school to be a school that will be a first choice for students. You don’t want it to be a case where they are sent here because their scores are low, and the only way you can do that is if you change the image of the school,” she said.

“I felt that one step towards this rebranding would be to revamp the sports programme, because Trench Town has a rich history where sports is concerned — especially Manning Cup. There was a little lull in our history where nothing was being heard of Trench Town High and so I felt then that I had to build the spirit of the students, because it doesn’t make sense you say you have the best teachers, the best administrators, if the students themselves don’t love their school, don’t respect their school and want to contribute to their school,” she explained.

One of the first things the principal did was to conduct a survey among the students to see what they wished to change about the institution of learning. This little exercise was quite instrumental in helping her determine how she could inspire the students to take pride in their school.

She also hosted a retreat for the teachers to get a better understanding of their vision for the school and to share hers as well.

Taking over the leadership of Trench Town High has required some adjustment for Bloomfield, who started teaching at Alpha Academy at the age of 17, and who eventually became vice-principal of that institution. She said relocating to this new school has been challenging, but she welcomes the challenge and believes the experience so far has in some way fostered her personal and professional growth.

“The fact is that I was at an all-girls’ institution and I am coming now to a co-ed institution. So to make the transition in terms of getting adjusted to this kind of environment with the boys — it has really been my first experience being a principal and an administrator of boys — it took some time for me to adjust. I recognised that boys are quite different from girls. They learn differently, they respond differently to authority and it was a period of adjustment too,” she said.

One of the ways she has sought to get the boys involved is to bring in a coach to revamp the football programme so the boys can participate in the Manning Cup competition. She has also got a new performing arts teacher and is currently preparing a team to participate in the annual Boys and Girls Champs and Schools Challenge Quiz.

Bloomfield said she sometimes has to remind herself to be patient in her desire to see the school become one of the best in the island. For now, she tries to take comfort in the fact that the teachers have been doing a good job at getting the students to transform their academic profiles.

“While we have challenges in terms of students coming to us with low GSAT scores, I think it is miraculous what the teachers do at the end of five years and sometimes at grade nine. Sometimes we have students who come to us who are barely literate, barely numerate, and these are students who the teachers take on, because we have literacy specialists, and at the end of five years, these students leave us with four or five subjects,” she said.

“The children here, it is not that they are different from the children that I am accustomed to, because children all over are the same basically. But you find that the children here have to face a lot of social issues and so these are some of the things that you have to focus on as an administrator.

“You have to recognise that in addition to being the CEO of a school, there are certain issues that have to be taken into consideration, especially for an inner-city school in a community where you have issues of poverty, crime and violence,” she pointed out.

To commemorate the school’s 50th anniversary, a church service was held in its honour which saw students, staff members, parents and past students in attendance. Bloomfield said it was important for the students to learn about the history of the institution, which has been able to shape the lives of several individuals who have been making significant contributions to nation building.

“What you find is that a lot of the students have negative views about the school, so when they heard about these past students who were achieving in cricket and in football, and who are lawyers and judges and doctors etc, it was a way of kind of building up their spirit and love for the school,” she said.

Among those who spoke about the history of the school during the anniversary service was the school’s vice-principal and former student Sandra Brown.

“We have done well despite the challenges, the violence and all the negative stigma that you have heard about the school,” said Brown who has been at the school for the past 27 years.

Marjorie Davis, another past student who has been teaching there for the past 25 years, said she has a lot of fond memories of her days attending the institution as a teen.

“It has been very good being here and that is why I have remained this long. We have loving children here and the school might not be traditional, but we still have bright children, loving children, and I am comfortable here” she told Career & Education.

Bloomfield said she has already started getting commendation from members of the community on how much the students have changed. In addition to improving the students’ academic performance and getting them more involved in exta-curricular activities, she said they have also placed a lot of focus on discipline. As such students who wear short tunics, tight pants or inappropriate hairstyles are not allowed to come on the school’s compound.

“I am happy here, despite the fact that the challenges are many,” said the principal.

Principal.jpeg- Principal of Trench Town High School Susan Bloomfield hopes to transform the image of the school.

Vice-principal.jpeg- Vice-principal of Trench Town High School Sandra Brown believes the school is doing well despite the stigma.

Marjorie.jpeg- Former past student and teacher Marjorie Davis assists one of her students.

Students.jpeg- Students at lunch break at Trench Town High.

Art and Craft teacher and grade seven supervisor Helen Austin teaches her students.

Trench Town High school. (Photos: Bryan Cummings)