Re-Branded Hopewell Centre of Excellence Opens September 1

Plans are well advanced for the opening of the re-branded Hopewell Centre of Excellence in Technical and Vocational Studies, formerly the Hopewell High School, in Hanover, for the new academic year, which begins on Monday, September 1.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Grace McLean, told JIS News that the re-branding process is far advanced and although not everything will be in place, the school will re-open on September 1, under its new name.

“Hopewell High School is pretty new and it was built to accommodate the technical and vocational areas. So, a lot of what we have to do is really re-organization, capacity building  and the  introduction of new programmes that are in line with labour market demands,” she informed.

“We have developed the concept paper in terms of the approach that will be used and we will be working with the institution within the first term of this school year to ensure that all the necessary changes are made, with a view for them to develop that culture of excellence in technical and vocational education,” Dr. McLean added.

The Ministry will also be assigning a Literacy Coach and a Mathematics Specialist to the school.

Meanwhile, Dr. McLean said construction work on a second campus for the Anchovy High School in St. James, is progressing well.

She said the Ministry remains committed to its original opening date of between November and December this year.

Earlier this year, Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, announced that the Government would be spending $120 million to transform the former Haitian refugee facility in Montpelier, St. James, into a second campus for the Anchovy High School.

The Montpelier facility was built as an agricultural school, but was later used as a base for members of the Jamaica Defence Force, (JDF) before it became a centre where Haitian refugees were housed ahead of their return to that country.

Campus 2 of Anchovy High will accommodate grades 7 and 8 students, and in the future, students from grade 9. It is proposed that this new campus should become a Centre of Excellence.

There are currently 2,200 students attending Anchovy High School and when the new campus is completed, the shift system that currently obtains will be discontinued.