The St. Theresa Preparatory School was founded through the instrumentality of the Rev. Father Barry, S.J. and was officially opened on Monday September 7, 1953. His Lordship, Bishop John J. McEleney, S.J. blessed the school.



Classes commenced on Tuesday September 8 (the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity) with two hundred and twenty (220) pupils. The school was then a long, low building with five classrooms. The Rev. Father James H. Barry, S.J. was also instrumental in the staffing of the school, having invited the Dominican Sisters in Jamaica, with the permission of Mother Geraldine, to be the first teachers. Sister Marcella was the first principal and Miss Una Hendricks, the Vice Principal. Sister Timothy and three lay teachers completed the initial staff.

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During the period, 1953 - 1969 the school expanded and the numbers increased to 750 students in seventeen (17) classrooms.

 

A library, staff and curriculum rooms were added to the main school building. An additional block (upstairs) which houses the Computer Lab and the Administrative Offices were erected in 2002 and in 2003 another block was built to accommodate the canteen, tuck shop, storerooms and additional bathrooms. In 2004 a block was erected to accommodate a dance room, storeroom and the Accounts and Maintenance Departments.

 

The present school population stands at over two hundred and seventy (270) students. The high standard St. Theresa has achieved through providing quality educational opportunities can be attributed to the stability among its academic staff and the dedication and commitment of its past and present administrators, members of the school board, academic and ancillary staff and a concerned and vibrant Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Of greater importance, however, is the emphasis that has always been placed in the practices of religion and the value of a Christian education. Students participate in daily worship and Religious Education classes.

 



Central to the Teachings of The Roman Catholic Faith, the St. Theresa Preparatory School aspires to inculcate in each student a high level of Christian values, academic skills and other principles that will equip him/her to become a well adjusted individual, able to take his/her rightful place, creditably, in any institution of higher learning. 

 

 

 

The St. Theresa Preparatory School is a Roman Catholic Educational Institution. In keeping with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Faith, our mission is to endeavor at all times to deliver quality Christ centered educational opportunities with emphasis on the development of the whole child; thus fostering his/her spiritual, intellectual, socio-emotional, moral, cultural and physical well- being, to ensure that all aspects of his/her personality are fully honed in preparation for emergence and smooth integration into the next level of the educational system, thereafter emerging as an exemplary citizen, keeping in mind our motto - Veritas, latin for " Truth"

 



I am a student at St. Theresa and I should know there is: a time for play, a time for talking, a time for listening, a time for walking, a time for running, a time for reading, a time for writing, a time to do my homework, a time to watch TV.

 

There is never a time for lying, cheating, stealing, pushing or carrying malice or causing another child pain.

 

There is always time for being kind, considerate, respectful, thoughtful, and there is always time for doing the right thing, whether or not anyone is watching me.

 

Sister Catherine Fitzmaurice, O.P.