St Andrew High School for Girls has set its sights on raising $100 million in its 100th year of existence to implement a legacy project aimed at improving educational outcomes.

Chairman of the board of management Radley Reid on Thursday outlined the scope of the project as the school kicked off its centennial celebration which will culminate with a homecoming event in April 2026.

According to Reid, the project — to be funded by donations from the school’s stakeholders — will result in the digitising of the classrooms while enhancing the learning environment to equip students and staff with the tools necessary to thrive in the digital age.

“This includes expanding access to smart boards, projectors, tablets, computers, learning and teaching software, and high-speed Internet across the entire campus,” said Reid.

He added that the project would include making an online database of the school’s history easily available to its students and alumnae.

“We will be digitising over 100 years of school records, including yearbooks, photographs, students’ records and achievements, and administrative archives, preserving our rich history and making it accessible to generations of St Andrew girls and others to come,” added Reid.

The legacy project also includes plans to use solar power to facilitate air conditioning for learning spaces.

“Climate change is real and it is already affecting how we teach and learn. Classrooms and students find it difficult to absorb, think, and use the content appropriately [in the heat],” said Reid as he explained the necessity of using renewable energy to create a comfortable, climate-friendly and cost-efficient school environment.

The board chairman pointed out that the legacy project will also prioritise the expansion of the school’s Garden Theatre which serves as the primary venue for special events such as prize giving ceremonies, concerts, worship services, and dramatic productions.

“We plan to cover the Garden Theatre, creating a functional, open airspace that can seat up to 2,500 persons. This will allow us to hold school-wide events, alumnae functions, and even external events for the incoming generation. Something the current assembly hall, which accommodates only about 400 students out of the 1,500 simply cannot do,” said Reid.

He also noted the school’s intention to reconstruct and beautify the entrances to the institution, in an effort to create “welcoming, and symbolic gateways that truly reflect the grace and the strength of St Andrew High School”.

Reid told the launch that consideration is also being given to the implementation of a school bus system under the legacy project.

“It will serve not only the academic and co-curricular needs of our students, but for ethos of community involvement and outreach,” added Reid at the launch which was buttressed by an announcement from the Lake Family Foundation that it will be donating a creative arts centre to the school.

Lake Family Foundation representative Anne Ventura told the launch that the facility will be dubbed the Lois Lake Sherwood Creative Arts Centre in honour of the business titan, artist, and philanthropist who died in 2023.

“We wanted to do something meaningful to recognise mom’s participation here at St Andrew High. We knew that something like this would be something extremely gratifying for her so we thought this was the right thing to do,” Ventura told the
Jamaica Observer.

Lake Sherwood is fondly remembered for fostering arts and culture in Jamaica. She was also hailed for her business acumen which saw her opening the franchise of international fast food giant Burger King in Jamaica.

Responding to the announcement from Ventura, the school’s Principal Keeva Ingram pointed to the outstanding performance of her students in the performing arts in recent time.

“This is a real necessary thing because in recent years we have expanded our programmes. We have moved to now offering performing arts at the CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) level. More of the girls are interested in theatre and performing arts so we needed the space. It’s a welcome, welcome, welcome gift,” said Ingram.

Also welcoming the donation was the school’s head girl Kanyinsola Olowoyeye who identified herself as an enthusiast of the arts.

She told the Observer that although it was her last year at the school, she was still very happy for the girls who would get to experience the facility.

“I’m a former theatre girl, so I understand the need for the space. So I am super excited for the performing arts centre because they will finally get that space to really maximise their full potential because there are a lot of talented and amazing girls and I cannot wait to see them flourish in that space,” said Olowoyeye.