MONTEGO BAY, St James — Chetwood Memorial Primary School was one of the worst in St James affected by Hurricane Beryl and school officials feared they would not be ready in time for the new school year. They have been pleasantly surprised. Classes got off to a smooth start on Monday.

“We were in the tier one of schools for repairs but, thank God, the contractor delivered, through the [education] ministry, and the repairs came through,” Principal Garvin Atkinson told the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

“Everything is not a 100 per cent complete, but we are comfortable to begin school, and the children will be comfortable in the physical space,” he added.

When Beryl’s outer bands pounded sections of the country on July 3, the damage done to Chetwood Memorial included a section of the facility where students sitting the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams are housed.

“The entire grade two block saw damage and the main building had a pre-existing condition with the roof, where the grade six block is, but that was also sorted out,” Atkinson said gratefully.

The contractors repaired sections of the roof by replacing zinc, adding membrane where necessary, plus other work that was needed to make the school habitable.

The principal said with those fixes done, they can now turn their attention to their primary focus: students’ education. He has clear goals for the new school year.

“We’ll be focusing on literacy in the sense of reading,” Atkinson remarked.

“We are off to a good start and our expectations are that we’ll continue to provide excellent teaching and learning and our children will continue to do well,” he said.

This is despite what he described as an inadequacy when it comes to some equipment.

“Things have been mostly smooth, but the issue is that there is shortage of furniture. But apart from that we are ready for school,” said Atkinson.

In another section of Montego Bay, administrators of Corinaldi Avenue Primary School were also pleased with how things were going Monday morning. Unlike some schools, it has not had a major challenge with educators leaving for greener pastures.

“I’ve not lost a lot of teachers here; most teachers don’t really leave. I have lost one teacher to the foreign programme but the majority are here, plus some additional faces,” said Principal Dion Stern-Anglin.

She also indicated that there were issues with infrastructure but nothing that would prevent the school from operating efficiently.

“I am expecting a great year. Last year was great, but I’m expecting a greater year. Last year we got three scholarships for our school and this year we are expecting to surpass [that]. It’s a challenge, but we are up for it,” Stern-Anglin said confidently.