MONTEGO BAY, St James — Founder and director of Integrated School for the Arts Jamaica (ISAJ) — the newest educational institution in the western end of the island — Natalie Morris says the plan is for the school to develop global- ready students.

Just weeks after the private high school opened its doors for the 2026/2027 academic year, Morris told the Jamaica Observer in an interview that it is already making progress towards that goal.

“Global citizens, that’s our motto. It means regardless of your ability, we want you to — even if you’re living locally — you should be thinking global…As we are living in a world where artificial intelligence is shaping the way we do business and the way we learn, I want our students to be thinking in that realm,” said Morris.

She said the varied nature of the student population is already helping to bring that vision to life.

“We have a diverse school even though it’s so small. We have Spanish speakers, we have Mandarin speakers, we have English speakers,” explained Morris, who pointed out that the school has already started establishing international connections — including one expected to provide students with opportunities to travel overseas.

“Just right now, we were identified by Marnix College in Curaçao…they are coming… to Jamaica next year to partner with us as a language exchange programme.

“We want to get the students to be thinking that we are not just in a local space, we are in a global space, and that’s how we have been pushing the school,” Morris told the Sunday Observer.

Located at the Blue Diamond Shopping Mall in Ironshore, on the outskirts of Montego Bay, ISAJ currently has 45 students enrolled in grades seven to 10.

The grade 10 cohort will progress to grade 11, in which students will be guided in preparing for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Morris shed some light on the school’s origin.

“I was a consultant to Naz Children’s Centre where I actually assisted them to implement a high school programme,” she explained.

Naz Children’s Centre offers tailored learning programmes for children who may have special educational needs.

“Naz, as most persons would know, it would be from preschool to elementary, and I implemented a high school programme there in 2018,” Morris explained.

“Fast-forward to 2026, on February 28 this year, the owner of Naz Children’s Centre called me and said… the programme is doing well there, but she really wants to refocus and go back to core —and that is how she said, ‘I am giving you back your baby,’ “ she recounted.

Taking a leap of faith, Morris said she stepped down from her corporate job at Harbour City Mall in Montego Bay to establish the school. Nearly 30 students from Naz Children’s Centre were transferred to her care to continue their secondary education.

Morris said she felt prepared to take on the challenge, given her background in teaching.

“My journey started about 20-something years ago in the classroom as a primary school teacher. I have taught in Jamaica and in The Bahamas,” she said.

Despite her experience, she admitted that she was uncertain about how things would unfold, particularly as she had to find suitable premises to accommodate the school.

“I am saying it’s nothing short of a miracle, because I’ll tell you this, when I got that call, I didn’t have a building. I didn’t have any idea how anything was going to work, and this moment has been a faith walk for me.

“I remember the day when we were looking for a venue and we’re looking at another venue, and it was not approved by the Ministry [of Education], and the same day I called the owner of Blue Diamond and he said, ‘You know, ironically, one of our tenants is moving,’ “ she told the Sunday Observer.

The tenant was Nexus Tours, a tourism-based company that was relocating its operations to the grounds of Sangster International Airport.

“I can say that Nexus Tours was here and they were our first funding partner. Nexus contributed a large percentage of our furniture. They started us with everything, most of the things that you’re seeing here are from Nexus Tours,” said Morris.

“All of what you are seeing in form, is like God placed all of this and so we were able to organise to start school in six months. We met the students on June 1, and from June to September we were able to transition and to start school with 44 children here,” she stated.

Despite the progress, Morris said the school’s long-term goal is to secure premises of its own, although she remains grateful for what has been achieved so far.

She explained that the small class sizes were intentional, allowing teachers to provide greater support to students, particularly those who require additional assistance.

“Our class right now is standard 10 to 15 [students], but our largest class right now is 12, and we are able to do a more personalised learning or differentiation learning experience and that is part of the unique nature of this,” said Morris.

She pointed out that although ISAJ has a focus on the arts, its curriculum extends beyond that field.

“We do try to use a STEAM [science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathemat-ics] based approach. So, in the mornings, mostly, we do all the academic stuff, but in the afternoon we do arts-based subjects. We have drumming as a part of the curriculum, we have robotics, we have all of those things,” said Morris.