Kean High School Anniversary Brings About Reflection on St. John Students Access to Education

Starting in 1971 as the Nazareth Bay Secondary School, 50 years later the Government Operations and Consumer Affairs Committee has advanced a resolution commending what is now Ivanna Eudora Kean High School teachers and students on half a century worth of achievements.

Senators and testifiers sang praises of the school, but former student and 1989 graduate Dionne Wells-Hedrington testified about her experience attending the high school and how the same struggles she faced 30 years ago are still being faced by students now on the island of St. John.

“Growing up on the island of St. John and matriculating through the public education system didn’t afford us as students the opportunity to complete our public education on our island St. John,” Wells-Hedrington said. “We received a public education up until the ninth grade on St. John, then we transitioned to our lovely years of commuting across the water to St. Thomas to attend the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School for 10 to 12 grades.”

Wells-Hedrington said the commute was exhausting and forced students to wake early if they were to catch the ferry by 7 a.m. each morning.