These are trying times for Oracabessa High School.

The school is operating with limited resources and has recently gained national notoriety for all the wrong reasons.

Yet, Oracabessa High, which was built in the 1970’s to accommodate approximately 500 students and which now has a school population of over 1,500 students, is making progress.

Only five classrooms and a library have been added to the school since it was first built. In spite of this and many other challenges, the school — which has grown from a secondary high school to a comprehensive high and now to a newly upgraded high school-has been using the little it has to create a positive impact on the lives of its students.

“We make the best of what we have,” principal of the institution Paul Lofters told Jamaica Observer North and East during a recent visit.

Over the last three years, the school has seen steady improvements in its CSEC results, particularly in Mathematics.

“In three years we’ve moved from 10 students passing Math to 84,” Lofters said.

With this quite significant increase, the school has not only managed to move the pass rate for mathematics, but it now boasts one of the best math programmes in the region.

Head if the school’s Mathematics department, Ian Johnson said the school is now ranked tenth among upgraded high schools in the island for its performance in Mathematics and English.

“We have one of the best Math programmes in the region,” he said. Johnson made it known that there has been steady improvement in this and other subject areas since the school introduced ‘Operation Turnaround’. In this programme specialists in the different subject areas are employed at the school to not only teach but to guide teachers as well.

Moving from a mere six to 10 students passing Mathematics before ‘Operation Turnaround’ started in 2013, 39 students passed the subject in CSEC; this grew to 80 in 2014 and 84 in 2015. In fact, in 2015, 10 students received a distinction in Math with all ‘A’ profiles. Additionally, one of the school’s math teachers has been nominated by the Ministry of Education as the best math teacher in Region Two.

“We have students who come here with a 30 odd average in mathematics and leave with a grade 1,” Johnson said.

Many of the students at Oracabessa High enter the institution with averages close to 30-per cent; however, there are many leaving with many subjects at the CSEC level and are going on to tertiary level.

The school has also seen major improvements in information technology. Previously, they recorded an average of 10 students passing the subject, however, this has jumped to 46 students over the last two years.

“Because of the focus, parents have shown renewed interest in the school, with students being transferred from other schools including traditional high schools,” principal Lofters said. He said ‘Operation Turnaround’ has allowed residents of the town to see that the school is able to produce great minds.

Oracabessa High has also seen significant growth in agricultural science. For the last three years, the school has enjoyed over 80 per cent passes in building construction and in food and nutrition and 100 per cent passes in physical education.

Lofters said the school hosts a two-week Easter CXC camp yearly, allowing students to stay on campus for two weeks and get additional assistance with their exam preparations.

In addition to this, because of the shift system, some students are given extra hours of teaching through an extended school day. Classes are also held on Saturdays.

“That has impacted the results significantly,” Lofters said.

The school is also actively involved in extra-curricular activities, even with the limited space of its playing area when it comes to sports.

Oracabessa has gained quite a reputation for its prowess in volleyball, winning three championships in the last five years and placing second and third in the years they have not won. The school is now actively involved in rugby and recently hosted a tournament.

“We have produced two national volleyball players that went to World Championship in China,” Lofters said.

The school’s choir has also done exceptionally well, winning a national — Jamaica Cultural Development Commission — gold medal and four medals at the parish level for 2016.

Oracabessa High was also victories in the recently held, Jamaica Public Service- sponsored, ‘My Light’ dance competition.

Looking at the successes of the institution over the years, Lofters believes the school would have done far more if the resources were readily available.

“One of the major challenges is the inadequacy of resources. The size of the school plant has limited our capacity to be, as effective as we want to be but we continue,” he said.