MONTEGO BAY, St James — Come September, the city of Montego Bay will welcome the opening of an eagerly anticipated and highly touted international academy for secondary school students.

But the facility — the Rose Hall Academy — which was initially conceptualised to be established on a 13-acre Greenfield land, (about 1,000 feet above sea level) overlooking the coastline of Montego Bay, will be temporarily located in Spring Garden on the other side of the city. Consequently, a new name is to be decided upon for the school by the board members.

On Saturday, new chairman of the board of the charitable educational institution, Lisa Lake, explained that board members decided that it would not be in the best interest to construct a retaining wall at a colossal expense on the 13 acres of the Greenfield land donated by the Michele Rollins-led Rose Hall Development Company.

The plan now is to erect a permanent structure on a similar size plot of land to as the Rose Hall site at Fairview, donated by Mark Kerr-Jarrett and his wife, Paula, who own Barnett Estates.

“Because the land (Rose Hall) is so beautiful but also so sloopy, we realised that a significant investment would have to be made on a retaining wall on the plot of land that was donated by Rose Hall Development. So we discussed it with Mrs Rollins to find out if we could find a way around it, and in the end there was no way around it and we all agreed, including Mrs Rollins, that it was not in the best interest of the school to invest the money in a retaining wall,” Lake said.

“So we are very lucky that Barnett Limited has stepped up and offered an alternative piece of flat land that is located in Fairview, close to Vista Print, and that is where we will be building the permanent school. It’s about 12 or 13 acres of land over there, similar in size to the donation by Mrs Rollins.

“Mrs Rollins remains totally committed and still sits on our board and, as always with Mrs Rollins, it’s what is in the best interest of Jamaica,” Lake said.

The decision was then taken to temporarily set up shop at a renovated house in Spring Garden until the construction of a permanent structure was completed.

“It (Spring Gardens site) offers six different classroom spaces as well as office space for all of the administrators. It sits on three-and-a-half acres of land, both regular land and beachfront property — a perfect starter home for us as we continue on the plans to build what is now on a new piece of land,” Lake stated.

But apart from the change of location and the subsequent, impending name change, the initially conceptualised plans to offer individualised and engaging education to students and fill the void for an international school in the tourism resort city have not changed.

In fact, the academy will be operated under the ethos of providing each student with the opportunity to achieve his or her full academic and personal potential while learning in an educational environment based on international standards.

Set to open as a private co-educational high school, the school’s mission is to provide a holistic educational approach, ranging from cutting-edge academic pursuits to a wide range of extra-curricular activities for students from diverse cultural origins and backgrounds.

The stakeholders of the institution are warning parents to avoid last-minute registration as there are a limited number of spaces, which are going quickly.

Head of the school Shirley Davis boasts over 30 years’ experience and has been in Jamaica for the last five years. Tiffany Hawk is the curriculum director.

Vetting of staff members continues, and on Satutrday parents and prospective students who thronged the Itelbpo Smart Solution complex in Freeport Montego Bay were updated on the academy and introduced to some teachers, administrators and board members.