Over the past three years, the school has seen a major improvement in the academic performance of its students but now there are fears that with the introduction of the grade 10 students this could change.

On Monday, administrators at the school noted that in 2006 only 36 per cent of its grade four cohort recorded mastery in the Grade Four Literacy Test.

That disappointing performance caused the administrators to devise a new plan and three years later, principal Erona Brown-Dean and her team, which includes two reading specialists, have seen marked improvements.

In fact, of the 107 students who sat the Grade Four Literacy Test this year, 76 per cent recorded mastery while 15 per cent recorded near mastery.

That performance has left Brown-Dean and her team fairly satisfied but they have not forgotten that nine per cent of their students recorded non-mastery.

The passionate principal and her teachers are determined that the school will achieve 100 per cent mastery and they have been pulling out all the stops to achieve this.

"I must commend the teachers for the hard work they are doing. We have the skills to work with these students, all we want is support. Once we get the resources we need, then we know how to transform these students to prepare them for higher learning," Brown-Dean said.

She was supported by Alphanso Williams, chairman of the school board, who applauded the principal and the teachers for the work they had been doing.

But he accepts that the administrators work will be under pressure to maintain their performance when 115 tenth-graders invade what is now a tightly knit school community.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com