The idea of building a Technical High School in Santa Cruz was initiated by the Santa Cruz Citizen’s Association in 1958. Many people wanted the school to be built in Black River but, the citizens of Santa Cruz prevailed. Various representations were made to the Ministry of Education and Kaiser Bauxite Company. These institutions soon realized the importance of a Technical School and the latter donated twelve acres of land and a grant of Ten thousand Pounds from the Ministry to start the project.

The then Minister of Education, Hon F. L. Glasspole decided that Saint Elizabeth Technical High School should be built, opening date being early 1961. The first batch of students was even chosen before the groundbreaking ceremony.

Mr. E. G. Roper was appointed Principal on January 1, 1961. This was an indication of the seriousness of the stakeholders because; the physical school did not even exist at the time of the appointment. The school opened with 110 students housed in one building. Under the direction of Mr. Roper a School Choir and a sports program were developed.

The school encountered problems in the early years, such as lack of equipment, insufficient water supply and insufficient boarding accommodation in the community. The members of staff together with Kaiser Bauxite Company contributed Twelve thousand Pounds to help alleviate the some of these problems.

In 1962 evening classes commenced with an enrolment of 36 students. A year later Kaiser Bauxite Company lent tents and the second intake of students was made possible. At the end of the summer term the Workshop, Arts and Craft, Laboratory, and Home Economics blocks were added to the school building.

On January 27th, 1964 112 new students were admitted and in September that year a new classroom block was completed and for the first time, students registered on the first day of the term. In 1962 the number of Administrative staff increased from two to four and the Academic staff from seven to twenty-five.

Esso Standard Oil Company donated funds for a Movie Projector, Power Saw and other equipment. The Emanuel Brothers of Santa Cruz gave two scholarships, one for a boy in Agriculture to the Jamaica School of Agriculture and the other for a girl to pursue Home Economics at Church Teachers’ College, Mandeville.

In 1966 Mr. E. G. Roper left to take up a position as Headmaster at Kingston Technical High School and was succeeded by Mr. J.C. Wray. Mr. J. A. Pottinger was appointed principal in 1970 to replace Mr. J. C. Wray who left for Alcan.

During Mr. Pottinger’s reign as principal, STETHS developed into a top class institution with an enviable record. The school’s infrastructure improved immensely and the school gained notable achievements that were to continue even after his departure. The student enrolment rose to Five hundred and thirty-eight with fifteen classes. In 1971 the Ministry of Education started construction of the Junior Secondary Department. In 1972 the student enrolment increased to Eleven hundred with the completion of the Junior Secondary Department. The curriculum was consequently widened to include other subjects in the Arts, Science, and other Industrial and Vocational areas. The Board of Governors allocated funds for the construction of a road, the installation of electric fans in the auditorium, and the fencing of the playing field.

In 1982, Mr. B. St. Clair Burton, a past student took over the reins from Mr. John A. Pottinger who served meritoriously for twelve years. Mr. S. U. Watson took over as principal in 1987 and served until he retired in 1999. Mrs Dorothy Samuda took over the reigns until she retired in 2008. In May 2008, current principal, Mr Keith Wellington was appointed.

In addition, the fact is that STETHS has produced a number of outstanding individuals in various areas of society including lawyers, doctors, professors, teachers, politicians, entrepreneurs, pilots, engineers, land surveyors, computer programmers among other noble professions. Undoubtedly some of our finest moments have been produced in the field of sports. In schoolboy cricket, STETHS has been the undisputed king, winning the Headley Cup on twenty-seven occasions since 1979 including a sensational eleven straight from 1979-1990, losing the all-island championships on only five occasions. They have won the triple (Headley Cup, Grace Knock-out and Spaulding Cup) three years in a row- (2010 – 2012. No other school in the history of schoolboy cricket has ever done that. In 2013 we lost in the semi-final of the Headley Cup to Manchester. We bounced back in 2014 & 2015 to take the triple. The Digicel All Island T/20 which was introduced in 2013, was also won by STETHS in that year and repeated in 2014. This competition was not played in 2015.

Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller and Brenton Parchment have who made it to the West Indies test team. Shawn Findlay made it to the one day team. Present student (2016), Michael Frew and Shahid Crooks were members of the victorious West Indies Under 19 T/20 World Cup team. (Bangladesh 2015).

Since the 1970’s STETHS has won the Dacosta Cup on five (5) occasions, (1974, 1999, 2009, 2013 and 2015). In 1999, the school was the All-Island schoolboy football champions. They have also done well in the Ben Francis knock-out competition, winning it for the last six (6) years in a row (2010 – 2015).

STETHS has also produced a number of National Football players including former national coach Wendell Downswell, former national captains Milverton Brooks and Anthony Corbett plus the legendary Noel “Sweetie” Smith. Since 2009, Deshorn Brown has written his name in STETHS history. He had a stint in the M.L.S. and now plies his trade in the Chinese Premier League.

In Track & Field, STETHS has contributed to Jamaica’s reputation as a world power producing a number of world-class athletes at both the junior and senior levels including Double Olympic and World Championships medallist Winthrop Graham and World Champion, Bridgette Foster-Hylton and Olympic silver medalist, Sherika Williams. Others of note include Ian Weakly, Kenroy Levy, Dinsdale Morgan and new sensations (2015), Nigel Ellis and Junelle Bromfield.