Storm-hit Sydney Pagon Academy engages shifts

Students at the Sydney Pagon STEM Academy in St Elizabeth will return to school on a shift system when classes resume on January 6 as the institution continues to recover from extensive damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Principal Milbert Miller said the temporary arrangement is aimed at limiting further learning loss after the Category 5 hurricane severely damaged the school’s infrastructure.

For the past two months, only grade 11 students have been attending classes as the storm destroyed the first- and second-form blocks and damaged several other buildings on the campus.

Describing the shift system as “the best solution that we could offer at this time”, Miller said the approach has the support of key stakeholders who are anxious to see all 800 students return to face-to-face learning.

“We think it is better to have them come in at some portion of the day to get some of the learning going on so as not to create any further gaps in their learning. Remember, these students would have been affected by COVID-19, [as well as Hurricanes] Beryl and now Melissa, so we want to make sure we limit the learning loss there,” he told The Gleaner.

Under the shift system, one group of students will attend school in the morning and another from midday to late afternoon, sharing the same facilities. The approach was used by several schools in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, particularly to accommodate students preparing for external examinations.

Miller explained that classes will be held mainly in the school’s senior block, which houses 13 classrooms and survived the hurricane due to its slab roofing. Industrial laboratories will also be converted into classroom spaces.

He stressed, however, that the arrangement is short term. The Ministry of Education has indicated that repairs to the school will begin soon, with contractors already selected by the National Education Trust, which is overseeing the restoration of more than 600 schools damaged by the Category 5 storm.

RESUMPTION CRITICAL

According to Miller, it is critical to resume full teaching and learning, especially as many students enter the institution reading below their grade level.

“That’s the challenge we have, [but] we have to be committed,” he told The Gleaner, adding that the hurricane also disrupted planned intervention programmes.

“We have to go back to the drawing board, and we have to say to ourselves, ‘Yes, we have no control over this factor, but we have a plan; we have a good plan in place, so let’s work it’. We are eager to get them back in the space so that we can work the intervention that we have planned for them,” Miller said.

The administration has also been working to ensure the comfort and safety of students and staff, many of whom were severely affected by the hurricane.

Bus schedules have been reorganised to accommodate students travelling from communities such as Santa Cruz, Goshen, Balaclava, Maggotty, and areas near the St James border.

Additionally, rules on uniform and punctuality will be relaxed to account for ongoing hardships.

Although electricity has not yet been restored to Elim district, the school is operating a generator and is seeking additional units through corporate partnerships. The existing generator is currently used to pump potable water from nearby springs.

“We not leaving anybody behind even though it is a daunting task,” Miller stated.

Meanwhile, William Knibb High School in Trelawny has abandoned plans to implement a shift system due to safety and space concerns, according to Principal Linvern Wright.

“If you’re going home at 5 or 6, where many of them live, by the time they get there at 6, it’s dark, especially at this time of the year, so we never really wanted to risk that,” he said, noting that electricity is yet to be restored to many of the school’s feeder communities.

Even after splitting its 1,165-student population, Wright said the severely damaged institution lacked sufficient space. As the school awaits repairs, temporary measures using tarpaulins are being put in place to allow students to return to classes next week.

“We’re just trying to get everything sorted out in tarpaulins for the time being so we can get everybody back in,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com