OUR SCHOOL | Skmethodist

EPWORTH/MAURICE HILLIER MEMORIAL

JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mission

To provide quality primary education which not only enables children to obtain a sound foundation for secondary education, but also for community living based on such Christian principles as honesty, integrity and love, through a curriculum that addresses their spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional and physical development

About Our School

In the nineteenth century, the Church and not the State was the agency for providing education. Hence, the Methodists operated schools in eight of the nine parishes, St. Peter’s being the exception, as there was, and still is, no Methodist Church there. Schools were built close to the Church or Chapel. In 1915, the Government took over full responsibility for all primary schools which resulted in the closure of the schools. This was mainly due to financial reasons. Nonetheless, the Methodist Church maintained its long-standing interest in education where it rented many of the school buildings to the Government. Beyond that, the Methodist Church took certain initiatives, one of which was the Epworth Junior School.

The then Epworth Junior School opened its doors on 21st September, 1953. The school had a modest beginning on the ground floor of the wooden building known as “Rozelle” situated at Nevis Street, Basseterre. Successive Methodist Ministers and Deaconesses occupied the top floor until the Deaconess House was built near the School and Church at St. Johnston. The School was then given access to the entire building. To accommodate the growing student population an additional two-story concrete building was erected in the early 2000s.

In 1980, the name of the School was changed to Maurice Hillier Memorial Junior School in honour of the Rev. E. Maurice Hillier who had been instrumental in its establishment and served as the first Chairman of the Board of Management. The name of “Epworth” was re-added later for posterity, hence, the Epworth/Maurice Hillier Memorial Junior School.

The first Headmistress was Mrs. Cynthia Blackman. The sixth and current Principal is Ms. Peta Gaye Crawford. The current Chairman of the Board of Management is Rev Mark Christmas, a proud alumnus.

Boasting of a student population of over 250 students, the School has a reputation not only in academic excellence but also the sound values it strives to inculcate in its students. The School successfully defended its 5th St. Kitts Nevis and Anguilla National Bank Private Schools Athletics Championship Title in February 2020.

Among its notable proud alumni is the fourth and current Governor General of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO, QC, JP and the current President of Cricket West Indies, Mr. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt.