Brief History of MBHS

The Montego Bay High School for Girls was established in 1935 as The Beaconsfield School. Its role was to fill a need that existed for the education of girls of high-school age in Montego Bay and the wider Saint James community. The school banner of leadership was taken up by its first principal Mrs. Blanche Jeffrey-Smith in 1935, and the school embarked on its inaugural term with three teachers and 40 students. Its mission—granted at its outset and which still remains its guiding post today—has been the development of students’ physical health, spiritual consciousness, mental alertness, and academic excellence. It also strives to inculcate values that connect students to their community, recognizing that the strength and health of their own livelihoods depend mutually on the prosperity of the community.

Academic Excellence

From the outset, the Montego Bay High School has held as its objective the training of its students to attain the highest levels of academic performance and to demonstrate the enviable qualities of discipline and citizenship. These standards have been the hallmark of the institution throughout its 85 years of operation; hence, the students’ results in the external examinations consistently exceed national averages. While in 1978, the school’s sixth form was transferred to the Montego Bay Community College when that institution opened, in 2015, MBHS again began educating students up to the sixth form level, which culminates in their sitting the CAPE examinations. In 2016, just a year after the start of the sixth form program, MBHS received the Number 1 spot out of all the schools on the island, with 100% of its sitting students gaining passes in at least 2 subjects (Image). This excellence has continued into the present, as the school’s board, administrators, staff, and students continue to work together to pursue the successes that come only with discipline and industry.