AS the only all girls’ primary and infant school in Jamaica, St George’s Girls’ Primary and Infant School in downtown Kingston has spent over 100 years preparing young girls to become ladies so that they can make a positive contribution to nation building.

The school, which operates from a church hall, has more than its historical legacy to boast about. It is currently one of the schools most sought after by parents because of its academic achievements.

“The standard is very high. Academically the girls do very well. We usually perform above the national average in all areas for external examinations,” said principal Collett Ridley.

“When it’s registration time it is really overwhelming. It is the preffered school for parents to send their daughters,” she said. “We have so many girls who want to come, so I don’t think we’ll ever go co-ed.”

The school currently has over 700 students enrolled. Unfortunately, the historic Anglican building out of which the school operates is unable to accommodate any more than this. In fact, instead of walls, chalkboards are used to partition the classrooms in the church hall.

“Right now one of the challenges we have is space. We really want a building, we really want a school,” said Ridley.

There have been efforts to spruce up the old building, but this does not solve the general space issue the school struggles with.

“At the end of each academic year a project is done so we have renovation, we have the painting, fixing of windows and doors and so forth to maintain the building, so we have tried,” Ridley said.

The school has helped to shape the lives of several public figures including journalist and playwright Barbara Gloudon, Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn and actress Leonie Forbes. Many of those who have benefited from the institution are now active members of the past students’ association and help to raise funds to better the school.

“Whenever the students go out, whichever school they go, they always come back and say, ‘Miss we are doing well’. Past students come back and say, ‘this is our school’,” Ridley pointed out.

The school also has an active parent teachers’ association and so it’s not uncommon to find parents at the institution on any given day assisting the teachers to maintain the compound and ensuring order in the classrooms.

Currently the school has 96 per cent mastery in literacy and 91 per cent in numeracy for the grade four literacy and numeracy test, and senior teacher Donna Lawson feels they are poised to reach 100 per cent.

“We have done very well in terms of the national grade, but there is still more that we can do in terms of getting 100 per cent. That’s what we really want,” she said. “Many people think this is a prep school and so it means this is an ideal primary school.”

In 2008, the school was presented with the key to the city in recognition of its contribution to education over the years. Ridley, who has been at the institution from 1981, credits the school’s continued success to the dedication and commitment of teachers.

“The teachers, they have done their best with the resources that they have here,” she said.