SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Petersfield High School in this western parish has been in the spotlight for bad news recently, but school administrators are not giving up hope that their three-year-old ‘Five in Five’ initiative will continue to reap positive results. The focus is to have students successfully pass five subjects within their five years of study.

Despite the recent fight between two students that made the headlines, school officials told the Jamaica Observer that since the initiative was launched they have seen a general decrease in the volatile behaviour of students on and off the school compound and there has been a noticeable improvement in academics. In 2020, Petersfield High School had a 78.8 per cent pass rate, an accomplishment that would have seemed impossible years ago.

Building on its reputation for excellence in football and track and field, the school has made extra-curricular activities and investment in its student athletes a priority. They are placed on special programmes — made possible with the support of past students and community members — that see them receiving meals, help with their academics, and accommodation for those who are sometimes from challenging home environments.

“We have had students who would normally deviate from the expected behavioural patterns instilled by the school make a complete turnaround after being placed on a sports team with the aim of rerouting their focus,” senior teacher with responsibility for public relations and discipline, Sanya Seaton-Gray, told the Observer.

“Our athletes are not treated differently,” she stressed. “They too need to maintain a set average in order to be able to play the sport of their choice. They are given extra classes and are assigned to mentors, who motivate them to not only focus on the sport of choice but [also] on academics.”

According to Seaton-Gray, the mentorship programme plays a key role in helping students balance academics and sports. In addition, the programme — which sees teachers being assigned to individual students and providing them with one-on-one attention — has helped create close-knit relationships between both sides.

Roan Green, who has been the school’s principal since September 2020, said these initiatives have boosted school pride, which will in turn nurture civic-minded adults. He spoke glowingly of the work being done by staff members and the bright future he hopes the school will have.

“I want Petersfield High School to become the school of choice in the parish,” he said. “I want to start the CXC programme from grade 9, so we give students three years to complete the syllabus rather than two; expose students to new skill areas, such as plumbing and block laying, allowing each student to leave with a marketable skill; [expand] the physical plant with more classrooms to get the school off the shift system; [and] enclosing the property and installing a metal detector.”

He said more changes will be implemented as time goes by and the institution continues to grow.

— Rosalee Wood