A mere decade after Reach Academy was founded, its directors are more than encouraged by its academic achievements fuelled by new methods of teaching that required hard work to win parents’ confidence.

“Jamaicans want everything traditional,” said Jodie Williams who with her sibling Sean Williams, as well as Kanna Coore, and Vanessa Khouri-Salazar co-founded the school in 2012.

“It isn’t just a Jamaican phenomenon either. People are afraid of new. So we had to really step up to the plate and provide a learning experience that matched and even surpassed that of our competitors. And we provided. We’re a small school already hitting way above its weight class,” said Williams.

“We always do well at gymnastics, we received gold medals in the Mayberry swim meet, we won the math Olympiad for fifth grade, our robotics team is one of the top three at the primary level, in our first year, we were awarded the People’s Choice Award,” added Williams.

Reach Academy, which is located on Widcombe Road, St Andrew, is described by Khouri-Salazar, the principal, and her fellow staff members as a modest, yet innovative school.

All the co-founders are directors.

At the time the school was founded Khouri-Salazar and Coore already had an impressive resume spanning more than 20 years in school administration, child development and primary schooling. However, they admitted in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week that the early days of running Reach Academy were by no means easy.

A major issue that they routinely faced was competition from older, more rooted schools, with many casting them aside due to their infancy.

“It was a new experience. None of us have ever owned a school of this size. It’s been learning process. We were up against a lot of other schools that have been established for 20, 30 sometimes 50 years,” said Coore.

“There’s also the matter of individually. We’re all young people. The people that run other schools are often much older. Some people think we lack the experience and expertise. It’s a stigma we face every day. We really had to bring our A-game from the outset, because parents weren’t looking for the excuses of ‘Our school is just a year old’. They want the best immediately,” added Coore.

The directors of Reach Academy are particularly proud of one of their sixth grade students, Leah-Simone Powell, who has been named the Top Female Primary Exit Profile (PEP) performer in the entire island this year.

She had attended Reach Academy’s sister school, Building Blocks Pre-School, for three years, ever since she was 18 months old. She spent eight years at Reach Academy, performing consistently well throughout that entire time.

Leah-Simone’s PEP score guaranteed that she was placed at her first-choice secondary school, Campion College.

The result hasn’t surprised Khouri-Salazar who hailed Leah-Simone’s drive, intelligence, and ability, alongside the unique curriculum that Reach Academy provides.

The school provides instruction in all the required primary subjects — social studies, math, language arts, and science. Spanish is the only foreign language subject being taught at the moment, however the plan is to add French in the future.

In addition, though, the school places a lot of focus on independent thinking, mental and emotional well-being, as well as guidance.

Chess and computer coding are compulsory subjects, with chess being taught from kindergarten and coding in the first grade.

“For us, we’re looking for methods that will enable us to teach our way. It cannot just be a matter of regurgitation of information. We don’t want busy work, we want meaningful work. It’s why we welcomed the switch from GSAT [Grade Six Achievement Test] to PEP, as it requires more independent thinking. But all those things we were doing before PEP. We can see how chess and coding are directly helping the students. Not all of them like it, but it forces them to not only think, but learn from failure,” Khouri-Salazar said.

Reach Academy’s size is small in comparison to its accomplishments. When the school commenced operations it was home to 34 students. Even in 2022, after having undergone several phases of expansion, the current number of pupils is only 151. The size of the teaching staff is equally small — 16 main teachers, seven special teachers, and a coach for physical education.

Khouri-Salazar, however, considers the small size to be one of Reach Academy’s greatest assets, highlighting its experience during the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic as proof of that and its capabilities as a whole.

“COVID hit and it levelled the playing field. It smashed everyone down to how good are you at your core. And that’s where we shone,” she said.

“When the first case arrived, we immediately saw the threat. The next Monday, when schools were closed, we had already set up a virtual platform and made the switch. It helped then that we were so young and tech-savvy,” added the principal.

“In September 2020, we were one of only three schools to resume face-to-face [classes]. The Ministry [of Education] raved, the parents spoke up, yet we did it, and we did it well. We had no issue with social distancing, as we have a big campus, and only 20 students max per class. At that point the parents and others truly began to see that we were capable. COVID-19 was our trial by fire, and we played it close to perfection. We did our best to provide for the kids, and that is something we will continue to do,” Khouri-Salazar said.