Green Park Primary
& Junior High is on the upward move
By Dave Lindo

Green Park Primary & Junior High is a school that is on the move. That move is being spearheaded by the school’s young and vibrant Principal, Mr. O’Neil Ankle, who took up that post last October.

Green Park is located in Sandy Bay, Clarendon and opened its doors in 1972 as one of the schools built as a gift from the Canadian Government.

It had the capacity to accommodate 325 students, most of who came from the communities of Sandy Bay, Old Harbour, Old Harbour Bay, Palmetto Pen, Rosewell, May Pen, Palmers Cross and Nineteen Miles.

The school’s population has grown over the years. A new block was built by the Government in 2002 and the school now has 717 students enrolled from grades 1-9. There are 26 teachers on staff, 96% of whom are trained.

The school was also upgraded from an All-Age to a Junior High, with a 2-shift system.

Green Park has two Vice Principals – Mrs. Cloris Geddes who has been at the school since 1973 and operates on the senior shift, and Miss Madge Thomas who works on the junior shift.

Over the years, Mrs. Geddes has seen many changes at the institution. According to her, “There have been lots of changes. In the early days the classrooms were overcrowded where sometimes you had over 50 students in a class. Those days there was only one block. The principals have changed also as Mr. Ankle is the fourth principal here.”

Principal Ankle spent five years as a reporter at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS). He then spent six years as a lecturer at the GC Foster College. Mr. Ankle has a Bachelors Degree in Communications Arts and a Masters from the Nova South Eastern University.

Since taking up the post as principal of Green Park, Mr. Ankle, like a breath of fresh air, has passed on his enthusiasm and high energy to both students and staff.

“It is a great experience being here. The challenge is great but I have a deep desire to see students excel,” he said. “If I spend five years and don’t see any growth, then I would have missed out. The monthly salary is not all, the achievements are my greatest desire.”

Now approaching his sixth month at Green Park, already improvements in the attitude of the students towards school and camaraderie amongst the members of staff is evident.

What has helped this positive move is the introduction of an Honour Role. “We introduced the Honour Role a month ago which has motivated the students to strive for excellence,” Mr. Ankle explained. “We have a Principal List for students scoring 79 and over and a Vice Principal List for students scoring 69-79. It has generated a lot of interest in the school at all levels.
“We give them (Honour Role students) prizes, as students need motivation in order to perform.”

The school also has a Spellaton on the last Friday of every month, which generates a lot of interest in the students.
Green Park Primary & Junior High has a strong tradition in sports and has won several competitions over the years, especially in the area of football.

Last year they won the Clarendon FA Stewart Hardware Parish Under 15 Football Trophy, adding to their many silverware.
“Green Park is a school for schools like Glenmuir, Clarendon College, Vere Technical and St. Jago. Our top athletes always go to those and stand out,” Mr. Ankle said. “Come next year, our sports programme will be second to none.”
Green Park also does well in the JCDC Festival in the area of speech and drama. As highlighted by Mr. Ankle, Doneisha Gordon did very well at last year’s Spelling B competition and is an honour student.

“We also do well in the areas of Integrated Science, Agriculture Science, and the 4H Programme, which are highly respected in the parish,” he disclosed.

The school has a tightly knitted staff. “The staff members have been very supportive and enthused. They are willing to see that the school progress,” Mr. Ankle said. “We don’t operate like a government institution but rather like a private institution. For example, at Christmas last year we bought every member of staff a present. We are not governing furniture here, we are governing people.”

It is not all well at the school, though, as there is an urgent need for more classrooms. “We want to develop the school in a learning centre of excellence but in order to do that, we need more classrooms. “We have the space but we need more buildings,” the principal said.
Principal Ankle disclosed that the Food For The Poor is helping with some additional classrooms.