Clement Howell High School celebrates its 20 th anniversary during the month of April and this milestone could not come at a more appropriate time, since the institution has begun to turn heads, exhibiting a higher disciplinary levels and recording impressive external examination results, while winning the National Athletics Championship for the first time it its history.

Though the transition at the institution had been taking place over a long period, it has earnestly taken shape over the past three years with new principal Lloyd Fearon, who quickly pointed out that the change occurred through a collective effort between himself and the teachers, whom he described as dedicated beyond measure.

“Many persons cannot believe it is the same school when they come on campus. They see the tranquility, the serenity and the fact that students are actively engaged in classes and not loitering,” Fearon said.

The Clement Howell High principal said, while the transformation starts with the level of leadership, that is not the solitary factor, since collective staff effort plays a critical role in the process.

“The leadership approach that I have been using is one that has allowed the staff to buy into the mission statement of the school – to buy into the vision of the school, and to understand that their service to the students and the school should be out of commitment and not just to avoid consequences,” Fearon said.

The Clement Howell principal added: “Teachers do things voluntarily. Teachers do things whether or not there is going to be any pay attached to it. As a matter of fact, I don't threaten teachers ‘to do things or else'. I try not to hold everything over them – no ‘big stick mentally or the carrot dangling before the donkey' system – I think that is outdated now.”

Fearon said one heavily area of focus is discipline, as there is zero tolerance approach as to students' the overall conduct. He said the school has followed the disciplinary stipulations outlined in the Education Policy, which stated that if a student breaks the rules, he/she faces the consequences.

He said the school has an established disciplinary slate starting with detention, if the student is late twice in any one week. The student, as a result, would spend forty-five minutes of the one-hour lunch period either explaining on paper the importance of being early, solving math problems or working out comprehension problems.

Failing to report for detention, earns a student double detention – the requirement which is to serve the entire lunch period and hour after school. Parents are notified a day in advance.

Should a student fail to report for the double detention, he/she becomes eligible for the most feared demerit process, which will see him/her remaining two hours after school, to sweep, mop or scrub graffiti from walls. Fearon said parents were told of the measures during PTA meetings. Failure to report for that punishment earns the student an automatic two-day suspension.

Fearon noted that, as stipulated in the Education Policy, there are infractions that warrant straight suspension, such as fighting, sexual misconduct, possession or use of weapon, and possession or use of drugs.

Realizing that focusing on disciplinary actions alone may not get the students to attain their full potential, Fearon said: “So, we did an informal swat analysis of our school towards the end of last year, to look at our strength, weaknesses, advantages and our threats. And coming out of that (meeting), we have decided on some changes.

An aspect of the changes is to divide the school into two groups – upper school and lower school. The upper school comprised third, fourth and fifth forms, while the lower school comprises first and second forms.

This initiative, he said, caters to avoiding all eight hundred odd students out of class at the same time during break and lunch periods, since it increases the risk of confrontations. When one group is out for break and lunch, the other group remains in class.

He said the school has also administered four pillars on which it intends to move forward – academics, co-curricular activities, conduct and deportment and spiritual development – which he said was in-keeping with the school's motto – ‘Committed to Excellence'. These pillars are based on four core values – collegiality, open communication, high expectation and celebration.

In the area of academics, Fearon said the honour role programme was re-introduced, and at the end of every marking term – which is every six weeks– students who scored 75 percent and above are recognized in the general assembly.

The resulting measure has been a conspicuous spike in the number of students being added to the honour role every six weeks. Over the corresponding period this time last year about twenty-five fifth formers were on the honour role. This year the number surpasses forty-eight. Last year's external examinations results, noted Fearon, were impressive, and is expected to be better this year as a result of more fifth formers added to the honour role.

High expectation, Fearon said, also forms part of co-curricular activities, which, in addition to academics, also includes sports. He said Clement Howell has its own sports awards system in addition to any awards they may achieve from participate in external sporting competition.

“Whether we finished first, second, third or fourth, we also identify our most valuable player, we identify the student who is most dedicated to training, which involves attendance to training and participation, and the student that was most congenial and motivate others to do well. And then we give small tokens to everyone on the team,” Fearon noted. As a result students were willing to participate in activities.

He said, too, that as it relates to discipline the school administration has decided to highlight the positive over the negative. When students do well, they are congratulated in the general assembly and are further encourage, while by the same token when students earn themselves punishment the entire schools knows also.

As a result of the two-pronged disciplinary approach, there is a drop in confrontation. Since the start of the term, no fights on campus were recorded, and students are encouraged to end the school year with that slate intact.