Principal Details ‘Very Good’ Results and Methods to Bolster High Performance at Hillcove High Achievers Prep
BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann; July 8, 2026
There was much to celebrate as 16 students graduated from Hillcove High Achievers Preparatory School in Brown’s Town, St Ann, on Monday, July 6, 2026.
And the graduates, parents and supporters of the school did celebrate, including breaking out in dancing, at the graduation ceremony at Brown’s Town High School.
(The top four performers in PEP in the Hillcove Prep Class of 2026. From left: runner-up to top girl Trezlie Hall; Top Girl Donique-Paige Minto; Top Boy Seyden Cummings, runner-up to top boy Tazari Simms. In photo at right, Top Boy Seyden Cummings receives a trophy presented by guest speaker Dr Saha Gay Belnavis)
The ceremony also celebrated the transition of nine students from the Kinder Department to the Primary Department. They participated in the programme and also received certificates, trophies, and tokens.
The biggest moment of the celebration was when the audience heard that the boy with the highest Primary Exit Profile (PEP) placement score across the region was from Hillcove. He is also the student with the third-highest placement score across Region 3 – Trelawny and St Ann — with a score of 387.4.
( Raheem Grant and Kyrie Steele, Grade 3 students delivering the Welcome, background centre is Maxine Stewart)
Those details came from Education Officer Romane Thomas, who brought greetings from Region 3 in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information. He congratulated the school and encouraged continued hard work.
Principal Adita Sherwood commended the PEP students’ achievement and said the PEP grades of the graduates showed that the school had “crossed the Red Sea,” beating back the doubters. She said of the 16 students from Hillcove who sat the PEP, 14 had achieved Pathway 1, the highest level of overall performance, and one each had performed at Pathway 2 and 3.
(Hillcove Grade 6 graduates in performance)
DEVELOPMENT GAINS
The students performed strongly in the Ability test too, with nearly half of them, seven out of sixteen, doing better than the national average, she said.
Commenting on the work of teachers to achieve the best results, Mrs Sherwood said each term the school saw some development gains among the students. She said they used the results of PEP Grade 4 to guide the preparation for Grade 5 and used Grade 5 results to prepare for Grade 6 PEP. In addition, she said the school was rewarding students who scored over 80 percent. “Our results this year were very good,” she said.
(Kinder 3, thrilling the audience with their song)
Mrs Sherwood said academic grades for boys versus girls, nationally, often led to concerns over the usually lower performance of boys but at Hillcove, this was not an issue. “At Hillcove, our boys are not at risk,” she said. She said they had noticed that, for the past three years, the boys had been on top.
(Principal Adita Sherwood, right, stands with an arm around the first Principal of Hillcove High Achievers Prep, Delfene Callum. Ms Callum’s role in getting the school established was acknowledged).
Prizes were awarded in subject areas and for student qualities being promoted, such as helpfulness and attendance. The climax of the award presentations was the announcement of the top boy and runner-up, and the top girl and runner-up. The Top Boy was Seyden Cummings, and the Top Girl Donique-Paige Minto. Runners-up to the top boy and the top girl were Tazari Simms and Trezilie Hall.
(Cultural Group doing a dance as part of the programme. There were several dance pieces and songs during the ceremony.)
Seyden Cummings took the top spot at the school in PEP for Mathematics, Language Arts and the Ability Test. Donique-Paige Minto took the top place at Hill Cove among the girls for Mathematics and Ability Test, while Trezlie Hall took the top spot in Language Arts among the girls. Trezlie Hall was also named most improved girl and Jaiden Johnson was named most improved boy.
Grade 6 teacher Ms Jene Gilzene was praised.
Dr Sasha Gay Belnavis, educator, gave the main address.
Maxine Stewart conducted the devotional exercise.
Keith Richards was the master of ceremonies.
Joshua Barnett gave the vote of thanks.
