Charlemont High School is a high school located in
St Catherine,
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
.
History
Charlemont High School was 'conceived' by the late
John Bernard Stephenson, a former
Member of Parliament for
North St Catherine. The idea came about as a result of concerns expressed by parents in the area whose children had to attend schools outside the area, as far as
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
and
Claremont Claremont may refer to:
Places Australia
*Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland
* Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart
* Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
* Town of Claremont, Perth
* Claremont Airbase, an ...
in
St Ann. The land was bought from the late Custos McGrath, with funds for the building and infrastructure coming from businesses and service clubs in North St Catherine including Alcan Jamaica Limited, the
Lions Club
Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the Jamaica Citrus Growers Association. The St Catherine Garden Club landscaped the school grounds.
[Charlemont High Year Book ]
The school admitted its first students on September 11, 1978. There were three first forms and three second forms accommodating a total of two hundred and forty students. There were twelve teachers including the principal, Ruel Forsythe.
Forsythe left at the end of 1979 and was succeeded by Donaldson Bernard in September of the same year.
In 1981 the school was expanded with funds from the
Norwegian Government
The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power ...
. This was the start of phase two of the building program when several classrooms and laboratories were built and the Home Economics center expanded.
Proposal to change the school's name
In November 2009 a proposal was made by the Asafa Powell Foundation to the government to rename the school to the Asafa Powell High School, after the former 100m world record holder,
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently ...
, a past student of the institution. In a statement at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston on November 26, 2010, Chairman of the Asafa Powell Foundation,
Delano Franklyn, stated "...and I am absolutely sure that every category of persons and groups relating to that particular school, based on our, our own investigation is in support of such a proposal." However, this announcement was met with opposition from the Charlemont High School Past Students. According to the Charlemont High School Past Students' Association Public Relations Officer Judith Wilson, the past students were not made aware of the proposal. Franklyn later admitted that neither the school board nor the principal was consulted about the name change, since it was just a recommendation.
Since the announcement many persons have voiced their opposition to such a proposal on radio talk-shows and on
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Schools in Jamaica
Schools in Jamaica
Educational institutions established in 1978
Buildings and structures in Saint Catherine Parish
1978 establishments in Jamaica