St. Jago High School

Saint Jago High School
St Jago High School Crest
Address
33 Monk Street Jamaica Ravensworth Spanish Town, St Catherine Jamaica St. Jago High School
Coordinates	17°59′59″N 76°57′05″W / 17.9998306°N 76.9513053°W / 17.9998306; -76.9513053Coordinates: 17°59′59″N 76°57′05″W / 17.9998306°N 76.9513053°W / 17.9998306; -76.9513053
Information
School type	Public school (government funded)
Motto	Labor Omnia Vincit (Work Conquers All, Labor Conquers All)
Religious affiliation(s)	Anglican
Patron saint(s)	St. James
Established	1744
Founder	Peter Beckford (bequest)
Status	Open
Chairperson	Ms. Joy Alexander
Dean	Mr Robert Lewis
Principal	Mrs. Collette Feurtado-Pryce
Chaplain	Rev. Khaliah Kinkead
Staff	120+
Faculty	100+
Grades	1st - 5th Form, Lower Six and Upper Six
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11 to 20
Number of students	1800+
Sixth form students	300+
Medium of language	English and Spanish
Language	English
Hours in school day	Curricular: 8:20 to 2:40 Extra-Curricular: 3:00 to 4:00
Classrooms	36
Campus	Ravensworth
Houses	Beckford Campbell Bell Wortley Smith Nuttall
School colour(s)	Green & Gold
Slogan	Labor Omnia Vincit
Song	Born in the Shades of Ancient Santiago
Sports	Track and field and Football
Mascot	Lion
Nickname	Jago, Ravens
Accreditation	Ministry of Education, Jamaica
Yearbook	Ravensworth Review
Alumni	Yohan Blake, Melanie Walker ,Mike Henry , Norman Manley, Sandra Swyer-Watson, Collette Feurtado-Pryce, Hon. Justice Lensley Wolfe and many more
Webmaster	Shane Edwards
Librarian	Stephanie Wright-Grant
Vice Principals	Antoinette Wright -Dallen and Ardene Jones
PTA President	Allan White
PSA President	Karl Townsend
Website	www.stjago.edu.jm www.stjago.com

33 Monk Street
Jamaica
Ravensworth
Spanish Town, St Catherine
Jamaica

Beckford Campbell Bell Wortley Smith

St Jago High School (formerly Beckford & Smith) in Spanish Town, St Catherine, Jamaica, founded in 1744, is one of the oldest, continuously operated schools in the Western Hemisphere. It is renowned for graduating some of Jamaica's senior military officers, world class cricketers, academic scholars, performing artists, and Olympic athletes.

The Principal at St Jago High School is currently Collette Feurtado-Pryce, who was appointed to the position in January 2016. The Senior Vice Principal at St Jago High School is Mrs Ardene Jones and the Junior Vice Principal is Mrs Antoinette Wright-Dallen who was the former Dean of Discipline.

St Jago was founded in 1744 under the will of Colonel Peter Beckford, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. It began as the Free School of St. Jago-de-la-Vega and later amalgamated two schools, Beckford and Smith (a boys' school) and Cathedral Girls High.

St. Jago High School is the offshoot of the Free School of Saint Jago de la Vega which was born when its major benefactor, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, Colonel Peter Beckford, in his will dated 1730, bequeathed the sum of 1,000 pounds sterling towards the construction of a free school or hospital.

The institution was intended to benefit the poor people of the town of St. Jago de la Vega, later renamed Spanish Town. Several other smaller endowments were made, resulting in the establishment of the St. Jago de la Vega Free School in 1744. A century later, Francis Smith, then Custos Rotulorum of St. Catherine, bequeathed 300 pounds sterling in his will dated 1830, to the founding of a school in the parish. Called the Smith's Charity School after its benefactor, it was opened in 1833.

In 1876, this school was to merge with St Jago de la Vega Free School to form Beckford and Smith's Boys School. In 1956, the final merger to form the present day St. Jago High School took place. At that time, Cathedral High School for Girls was amalgamated with Beckford and Smith's Boys School and a new building housing the new St Jago High School was declared open in 1958 by then governor general of Jamaica, Sir Kenneth Blackburne. This property is commonly known as Ravensworth.