KPS at 70 – Nurturing and Releasing Peculiar Gems to Impact the World

SEARCHLIGHT joins with the rest of the country in congratulating the Kingstown Preparatory School (KPS) on the attainment of its 70th anniversary of providing primary school education in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

From an initial enrollment of 25 pupils, today there are 900 pupils on roll, and whereas in 1948, pupils paid $6 a term, today, tuition at the government owned primary school is free.

The KPS, or ‘Prep School’ as it is popularly called, has, over the decades, achieved and maintained a standard of which it can be proud, and against which many other schools are judged.

At the anniversary service last week Wednesday, the headteacher shared a most amazing statistic. She said in the 70 years of the school’s existence, it had recorded 64 top performances in the annual secondary school entrance exam. This performance is indeed laudable, especially when one considers that there are 68 primary schools in St Vincent and the Grenadines, most of which enter pupils for that exam. So for the KPS to come out on top in the Common Entrance Exam or the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment more than 90 per cent of the time is nothing short of magnificent.

Another noteworthy fact is that the KPS is by far, the largest primary school in the country. In 2017/2018 its enrollment of 911 exceeded by 152, that of its neighbour, the C W Prescod Primary, which had 759 pupils. The St Mary’s Roman Catholic School had 646 pupils on roll. The average enrollment in our primary schools is approximately 200.

Over the years, the KPS has recorded outstanding performances not only in academics, but also in athletics, football, netball and the performing arts. Its graduates have gone on to distinguish themselves in every sphere of human endeavour.

The theme under which the anniversary is being celebrated is “Seventy years and continuing, of nurturing and releasing peculiar gems to impact the world.”

We wish the KPS every success with its anniversary celebrations and encourage teachers, parents and pupils to continue to work together to maintain the school’s legacy of excellence.