St Andrew High School

St Andrew High School was founded on September 21, 1925,[4] through a partnership between the Presbyterian Church and the Wesleyan Synod of Jamaica.[5] A fund of £6,000 was initially established to found the Jamaica High School for Girls, a fee-paying institution. Under the terms of the agreement, the school enrolled both boarders and day girls and was to be located near Kingston. In early 1925, the parties secured the former Cecelio Lodge House on eight acres of land—with gardens, tennis courts and a hockey field—from Kingston businessman Cecil Vernon Lindo. The house was refurbished, and dormitories, classrooms and staff rooms were added. On September 21, 1925, the Jamaica High School for Girls opened with 21 scholars (10 "day girls" and 11 "boarders"). September 21 continues to be celebrated annually as the school's Founder's Day. The first headmistress was Miss Jenny Gartshore, who served for only one term. Her sister, Miss Margaret Gartshore, assumed the position and served the school for 31 years with Miss Doris "Stocky" Stockhausen as Vice-Principal.[5]

In October 1929, the school qualified to become a government grant-aided secondary school. There were 153 students, of whom 51 were boarders. The Jamaica Schools' Commission recommended that the name be changed to St. Andrew High School for Girls. In 1940, the school had 270 students—68 boarders and 202 daytime attendees. A building and expansion programme was initiated, which would take several years to complete and was estimated to cost £6,000. The school population changed from exclusively fee-paying students to include students who had gained "free" or "grant-aided" places as a result of their performance in the Common Entrance Examination.[5]

In 1957, Miss Mary Dawson became the second principal of the school. In 1958, the Common Entrance Examination was introduced, resulting in an increase in government grant-in-aid to cover the tuition fees for those students awarded "free places" and "grant-aided places". In the same year, St. Andrew High School separated into two schools - St. Andrew High School (a secondary education institution) and St. Andrew Preparatory School for children aged 4 to 11 years. Principal Dawson spearheaded the development of science, initiating the teaching of physics by arranging for girls to attend classes at Calabar High School until the school's physics lab was ready in 1963. In 1965, the school closed its boarding facilities to create space for additional classrooms to facilitate newly introduced subjects—craft, commercial and home economics.[5]

In 1968, Mrs. Fay Saunders became the first Jamaican headmistress of the school. In 1974 she resigned to take up an appointment as Senator and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education. In 1974, Miss Joan Reader became the second Jamaican headmistress of the school. She oversaw the implementation of the second shift in 1978—a Ministry of Education initiative to cope with a burgeoning post-independence school population, and an increasing expectation that secondary education would be provided for the entire 12–16 year old cohort of the population.[5]