Portland school's new home bears fruit

Gareth Davis Sr, Gleaner Writer

FOR THE better part of 10 years, Winston McLeary and his company of teachers were forced to play the roles of security guard and warden at Fruitful Vale All-Age School, which had been located at the edge of a busy thoroughfare in the Portland community.

McLeary, principal of the new Fruitful Vale Primary School in the parish, said yesterday that the teaching population was now more relaxed at their current location at Shrewsbury.

"The life of just about every student was at stake," he said. "The (all-age) school was next to the roadway and, with vehicles speeding to and fro like a racetrack, we were forced to monitor the movements of students closely. And although there were no fatalities over the years, there were minor incidents, just the same, which indicated to us that we were not operating at a safe location."

Persistent lobbying efforts to secure lands to build a new school at a more safer location, proved to be unsuccessful.

Problems mounted

But while preserving the safety of students topped the agenda for administrators, the institution was becoming more unstable.

"The building was getting old and, soon after, we were cramped for space. By 2002, problems were mounting and, by then, we concluded that an alternative had to be sought," the principal said. "Students were falling over huge boulders which were in the schoolyard as the entire area is riddled with rocks of all sizes. It was just incident after incident. A fractured arm and leg here and there, it was too much."

But by 2009, school administrators received what was arguably the best news they could have ever hoped to hear. A new school would be built at Shrewsbury.

Yesterday, the new Fruitful Vale Primary opened its doors for the first time with a student population of approximately 220, including 32 students in grade one.

The school, which was constructed at a cost of $162 million through funding from the Ministry of Education's Primary Education Support Programme, also comprises nine classrooms and a multi-purpose court.

It also accommodates physically challenged students, and is fitted with wheelchair ramps.