The number of students enrolled at Grand Cayman’s two government high schools this fall appears to be lower than expected.

In February, the Compass reported that 2,121 students were attending the two government high schools in the 2009/2010 school year, with 1,109 students in years 7 through 9 at the four George Hicks academies, and 1,012 students in years 10 and up at John Gray.

At the time, Education Ministry Chief Officer Mary Rodrigues said total student numbers at government high schools were expected to reach 2,139 in September 2010.

However, Ministry of Education Senior Policy Advisor Clive Baker said as of 25 August, enrolment numbers at the two Grand Cayman government high schools stood at 1,924, with 1153 students enrolled at John Gray and 771 students enrolled at Clifton Hunter. These figures had dropped since August 20 preliminary figures of 1180 and 838, respectively.

That may actually be good news in a way, as the restructured John Gray can only accommodate up to 1,200 students and the new Clifton Hunter school at Frank Sound will be able to accommodate up to 900 students.

These capacities were actually revised upwards from original projections where John Gray was slated to accommodate only 1,000 students and the capacity of Clifton Hunter was set at 750. These numbers were based on the size of the academies within each high school, each set to hold 250 students from Years 7 to 11.

A new school dynamic

When the move to all-through high schools was announced in 2009, Chief Education Officer Shirley Wahler said the idea was to remove the disruption in education students experience when changing schools from middle school to high school - a shift that occurs at a sensitive age and just as students are preparing for their critical examination years.

Students attending classes on each of the newly reorganised high school campuses will still be divided into smaller, separate academies holding students from Years 7 to 11; only now they will hold up to 300 students each.

This arrangement will still provide a much more intimate setting for students than before.

At government schools teacher orientation held last week at Mary Miller Hall, Ms Wahler emphasised the smaller groups will translate among other things into better teacher-student relationships.

Almost all Year 7 to 9 classes will be conducted in the academy group, allowing younger students to experience the security of a smaller setting within the larger school. As students move into Years 10 and 11, they will have more opportunities for joining classes alongside students from other academies across the whole school, particularly in option subjects.

Due to construction delays students will attend classes for at least one more year at the existing George Hicks and John Gray campuses in central George Town.

Mr. Baker explained that three of the former George Hicks campus middle schools, New Horizons, Leading Edge and Heritage, will house the three academies that make up the new Clifton Hunter High School.

The former Pace High School will house the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre for the new Year 12 Programme. There are an additional 339 students slated to enter the compulsory programme, but many of them will not be attending classes at George Hicks. Among the many options available, students may be enrolled at an A level programme at one of the Island’s private schools, attending UCCI in pursuit of an associate’s degree or undertaking vocational training.

Spreading out

The Caymanian Compass reported in October 2009 that Education Minister Rolston Anglin was concerned an increasing overall population and increasing numbers of students transferring from private schools might strain the capacities of the two new schools.

However, it seems the opposite is happening.

Triple C School announced it is opening up new sections of Grades 6 and 8, the equivalents of Years 7 and 9 in the government system.

A press release from the school cites demand for more Grade 6 spots rose because some students leaving Year 6 in their district schools were not comfortable going into what it termed “the huge ‘city’ high school”. In the case of the Grade 8 class, the reasoning was given that Year 8 students were unsure how the demise of the middle school will affect them.

Preliminary numbers from Cayman Prep and High School show about 450 students registered to attend the Primary school and about 330 students in the high school, which is about the same as last year.

First Baptist reported a slight increase in its K-6 cohort, with 81 students registered last week over about 75 last year.

Preliminary number from St. Ignatius had about 650 students expected this year, up from 620 last year, attributable in part to growth in the Sixth Form from students pursuing their A levels.

Cayman International school also continues to grow, with approximately 400 students attending this year, up from about 370 last year. As a new school, numbers are weighted toward the younger years, but this year’s Grade 12 graduating class holds 13 students, up from five last year.