ST Aloysius Primary has been blazing a trail of excellence, quietly embodying The Franciscan Sisters of Allegany’s motto, Peace and love. The Duke Street school, established in 1868, has maintained a standard of academic distinction over the years, coupled with achievements in sports, and producing students who have succeeded in every imaginable career.

Panceta Walker, acting vice principal, said the formula for success lies in the teamwork that students, parents and administrators embrace.

“We have a lot of volunteers and parents who give of their time, give up a day’s pay to assist. We also have dedicated children and if not in academics, they do well in sports or another area,” Walker said.

Principal Althea Palmer added that teaching is not just a regular eight-hour job, it requires extending the days and the weeks to serve the students, and every team member has to play their part.

“We have an early-bird programme where the teachers arrive very early and the students come in at around 7:00 am and start working,” she said of the GSAT group.

The school also employs technology innovations in teaching to ensure that the students are not bored.

Where literacy is concerned, Palmer said the school has seen a 25 percentage-point increase since 2008 when she became principal.

“The literacy level was at 64 per cent, it is now at 89 per cent and it took teamwork [to acheive this],” she said. “We had to begin the intervention from grade one.”

According to coach Christopher Burnett, over the years the school has done well in sporting activities, though they are without a playing field or area to train children.

“We placed fifth in the Covenant Classics; we were third in the Ardenne Classics and the Meadowbrook Classics,” he boasted.

Because of their drive to do well, despite challenges, the track and field team competed at the Miami Classics in the US and received a donation of track shoes (spikes) from a gentleman who was impressed with their determination.

The coach said apart from regular physical education classes, there are inter-class sports competitions in netball and football.

The school also does well in music, and teacher Jermaine Gordon said apart from the choir the school has an instrumental group and a number of ensembles.

“At the JCDC level we usually receive gold, silver and bronze awards,” Gordon said.

He has also implemented a parents’ choir and teachers’ choir at the school and is currently working on educational CDs where he will turn the lessons into songs.

Gordon recently received an award from the Ministry of Education for being a teacher of excellence in music, and also has the privilege of training two winners of the JCDC children’s gospel competition. Both past students of St Aloysius, the wins were recorded in 2013 and 2011.

The school has introduced a green area where each student has the responsibility to care for a plant. They have also incorporated waste art where they use plastic bottles to create signs.

Additionally, St Aloysius has a therapeutic centre, which was donated by the Franciscan Sisters to help alleviate the trauma students often face. There is also a literacy programme for parents.

Both Palmer and Walker commended the school’s PTA body but have a desire to see the country’s literacy rate reach 100 per cent.

“If we have a literate nation, we can’t go wrong. We need to put away pride as adults and get on board programmes that are geared towards this. Equip yourselves in order to help your children,” Walker said.