HISTORY

The Guy’s Hill High School is located in the cool hills of Guy’s Hill, a rural town which sits on the border of three parishes St. Catherine, St. Mary and St. Ann. The town is second in height only the Juan De Bolas Mountain, the highest point in the parish. The school is located in the North-Eastern section of St. Catherine.

The school was constructed on farmlands and first opened its doors in 1971 as a Junior Secondary School with an enrolment of six hundred and seventy students between the ages of twelve and fifteen years. Initially there were only three grades: 7, 8 and 9. The school had as its first principal Mrs Ada L. Osbourne with an academic staff of 17 teachers operating a straight day system. With the implementation of a new level of the educational system the Grade Ten (10) programme was introduced a year after. In order to adequately accommodate the increased numbers of students, the school later adopted the shift system and remained Guy’s Hill New Secondary School.

The Grade 10 programme was a two- year skills training course implemented to provide skills training to the students. The skills offered were Carpentry and Joinery, Needlework, Food and Nutrition, Electrical Installation, Child Care, Art and Craft and Life Skills. It became relevant at this point in the life of the institution to introduce the work experience programme. This created an on-the-job training private and public workplaces for three weeks. The students excelled in the skill area and were able to sell products to the community on a sustained basis.

In 1977 the school once again changed its name to Guy’s Hill Secondary School and adopted the motto “Courage, Energy, Patience – the key to Success”.

In 1986 the principal- Mrs Ada L. Osbourne demitted office and in September of that same year the then Vice Principal- Mrs Hyacinth Baker took up the leadership mantle with Mr Irvin Small as her Vice Principal.

The school performed exceptionally well in the academic, skills training as well as extracurricular activities and as a result in 1988 was among the first five Secondary schools to be upgraded to high school status. The school therefore underwent a name change and became the Guy’s Hill High School. During the same year the school received its first set of common entrance students.

In 1995 the school received its first male principal – Mr Timothy Bailey who served until August 2008. Mr Irvin Small who served as Vice Principal for 22 years was promoted to the position of Principal in 2008, and served for 4 years until his retirement in August 2012. The Guy’s Hill High School now offers courses in the areas of the Arts, Sciences, Business, Information Technology, Home Economics, Industrial Techniques, Agriculture, Cosmetology, music, Visual Arts and Theatre Arts. In 2014, our course offerings was broadened to include subjects at the CAPE level, including among others, Physical Education, Tourism, Entrepreneurship and Electrical Technology. The school has grown to accommodate approximately twelve hundreds students, 52 teachers, 2 Guidance Counsellors, 1 Librarian, and 16 support staff.

This school with its limited resources but dedicated and erudite staff has moulded and coached numerous scholars many of whom are to be found in various professions the world over.