The opening of the new Holmes Rock Junior High School has again been postponed despite the project being declared 90 percent complete last March.

At that time, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works Robert Mouzas stated that only electrical work and parking spaces remained to be done.

"We feel that if we're supplied with funding and we can procure the material which we need to do from overseas, we should open for the next summer term," he said.

Grand Bahama News contacted Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Zane Lightbourne who said that the delay was caused by the need to have the school ready to also act as a hurricane shelter.

"It's going to require a lot of change orders, different types of work, and consideration of other factors such as elevation, especially with what has happened to Grand Bahama," he said.

He noted that the work should be done in October and said, "We're hopeful that we can open in January."

The Holmes Rock school project was started in 2016.

Stanley Davis, owner of a convenience store in Holmes Rock, said West Grand Bahamians are fed up with the seven-year wait.

"They have to get up earlier, prepare their children earlier, or have someone else pick up their kids," he said.

"Children would've been able to walk to school. It would have even been better for the community because everybody in the area would be going to one school."

He added that the traffic drawn in by the school would have been beneficial to surrounding businesses.

Candice Quant, who lives in Deadman's Reef, noted that the proximity of the school would have allowed parents to be more involved in their children's education.

"The West End community is ready for a change from Eight Mile Rock to West End," she said.

"It's honestly sad. Where's the urgency?"

Other schools, meanwhile, are making improvements and additions to their curriculum, after-school programs, and infrastructure.

School administrators from Hugh W. Campbell Primary School, Eight Mile Rock High School, Jack Hayward Junior High School, Jack Hayward Senior High School, the Bahamas Vocational and Technical Institute (BTVI), and University of The Bahamas-North are confident in their initiatives.

Hugh W. Campbell Primary School Principal Tammy Ellis-Elliot said teachers have been busy.

"We've been having professional development workshops," she said.

"They are learning everything that they need to and they're committed to going above and beyond."

She noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted the students' literary skills, noting that 71 students in her school hadn't met grade-level standards.

In response, daily book readings and writing exercises were held last term, as well as after-class assistance from teacher aides, which she said resulted in incremental improvements.

Ellis-Elliot said the process will continue while also adding various clubs such as a reading and writing club and entering students in competitions such as the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival.

At Eight Mile Rock High School, to improve the vocational program, Principal Albert Jones explained that the furnishings, tiling, and equipment in the hospitality and family science labs are being renovated.

"It won't hinder us from opening the school as the labs are in separate buildings," he detailed.

"Our contractor will be working on it for hopefully a week or so.

"We're looking for this to translate into more students having their BJC and BGCSEs. We also plan to compete in every area. A student, Pendisha Gelin, was the winner of the 2022 Bahamas Young Chef Culinary Competition, and we want to continue that trend."

Jack Hayward Junior High School Principal Janice Pinder also intends to increase the number of students passing national examinations.

"We have been focusing on school improvement based on the Ministry of Education's three-year strategic plan where we focus on literacy and numeracy this year," she said.

"We're aiming to have all 7th graders sit the Health Science BJC while also encouraging our high flyers, students with a 3.0+ GPA , to have four BJCs before grade 9."

Jack Hayward Senior High School Acting Principal Marissa Cooper is also seeking to expand the school's vocational program by reintroducing past courses, such as welding, carpentry, and computer-assisted design and drafting.

"We have students who may be in auto-mechanics or the like and we want to give them a head start - whether to decide to go to BTVI or go off to college."

On BTVI's Grand Bahama campus, major renovations are being made to the institute's classrooms and labs.

BTVI Interim President Linda Davis detailed, "Several years ago, we received funding from the Caribbean Development Bank to better the campus, but COVID slowed that process. However, we're back on track and we envision that the renovations will begin within the coming weeks."

Renovations were previously done to the auto-mechanic, plumbing, barbering, cosmetology, and electrical engineering labs to address increased interest in those areas while the new renovations will include computer labs and a multipurpose classroom for an upcoming media technology and electronics program and conferences.

UB-North Dean of Faculty Dr. Andrew Moxey revealed that an estimated 450 students have registered this year, an amount closer to its previous student population of 550 prior to the loss of the university's East Grand Bahama campus to Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

In 2022, UB-North acquired the Kipling Complex and started renovations.

Moxey described the progress as slow but steady.

"It's not crystalline enough for us to fully take occupancy. However, we have designated an office and classrooms for our business incubator program, UB-Ignite in Kipling Building C."

The post Another delay for Holmes Rock as other schools prepare for the fall term appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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