No girl left behind

Hampton School has opened its boarding facilities to dozens of senior students whose lives were upended by Hurricane Melissa, even as the Malvern, St Elizabeth-based campus battles its own storm-related damage.

Principal Dr Mahvell Charlton-Brown, backed by the school’s board, made the decision to bring Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) students into boarding. Many of the girls lost family homes, school books, and personal belongings when the hurricane struck on October 28.

Of the 384 students in the CSEC/CAPE cohort, 280 have reported to campus. The group includes 42 regular boarders and 30 students who have been given temporary accommodation.

An all-girls institution, the school, which was founded in 1858, is one of the oldest boarding schools in Jamaica.

“These 30 ladies are those that we have sought to provide shelter, food, in some instances, clothing, and, in general, adult guardianship,” she told The Sunday Gleaner when contacted last week.

Like many institutions across western Jamaica, Hampton School, which sustained significant damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, reopened its doors to CSEC and CAPE students last Tuesday.

It’s 1,200 students come from multiple parishes, and the disparities in their circumstances have never been sharper. Some girls still have electricity and running water. Many others – particularly in the southwest – “have been dislocated and have lost, essentially in most instances, everything,” Charlton-Brown said.

She says the institution intends to resume classes quickly so as to protect students from being left idle and vulnerable.

“We wouldn’t want them to just be at home or on the streets and becoming vulnerable to whether virtual or physical predators,” she explained.

“We knew we had to retrieve those ladies from the communities in which they were marooned, or those who had nowhere to go, and bring them to the compound,” Charlton-Brown added.

The principal said the length of temporary housing will vary depending on the level of damage to each student’s home. Some girls will remain in temporary accommodation for about four weeks, particularly those whose houses were not destroyed and are currently under repair. Others will stay for six weeks, extending to the end of the school term, while a special group may need housing for up to eight weeks.

Hampton’s response unfolds against a backdrop of devastation in western parishes. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management estimates that 90,000 households, representing 360,000 people, were affected by the storm – the most powerful to strike Jamaica in 174 years.

600 schools sustained serious damage

Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon reported that more than 600 schools sustained serious damage.

“A lot of schools have suffered tremendous damage. Some schools just don’t exist anymore. I went to one school where not one room can be used. So, we’re going to have to be very creative in trying to get school back,” she said at a recent press briefing.

She urged schools islandwide to resume operations where it is safe and possible to do so, noting that prolonged closures place additional strain on students already grappling with the storm’s impact.

“We have a lot of challenges in the west, but we are working through those and we’re hoping that, within the next two weeks, at least all students who have external exams, whether it’s CSEC, CAPE or PEP [Primary Exit Profile], will be back. So we’re prioritising those students in the west,” she said.

Parents have been pleading for help, and the administration is preparing to expand temporary accommodation to lower grades.

“We are hoping to be able to receive the ladies of grades seven to 10 in another week and a half or so … we expect 120 regular boarders, and we’re also doing our best to make room for other ladies of those grades who will need temporary accommodation as well,” Charlton-Brown said.

Hampton has set a target of having normal classes resumed next week, despite the loss of a dormitory and the destruction of the cookery and art rooms.

With electricity still not restored in Malvern, Hampton is running its kitchen, dormitories, and offices on generator power. Yet, the response from the wider community has been overwhelming.

“What’s amazing is just the help that we are getting from the community,” board chairman Dr Karen MacMillan-Tyme said.

Parents, alumni, and Good Samaritans have delivered food, clothing, toiletries, and essentials.

“These people are coming in they don’t have clothes, shoes, nothing. People are donating shoes, clothes and all kinds of things. So we are hoping to set up a little area in the guidance department where ladies who have lost everything, can just come in, and, and take what they want and go to their dormitory,” she explained.

Administrators say they will continue to work closely with parents, donors, and relief agencies as they navigate the weeks ahead, ensuring that no girl is left behind academically or emotionally as the institution recovers from the storm’s impact.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com