St. Stanislaus College (Guyana)


St. Stanislaus College is a Grade A senior secondary school in Georgetown, Guyana. It has a student population of 500 and a teaching staff of about 40. Admission to the school is normally through the Secondary Schools' Entrance Examination.It is the third highest school in the country, following Queens college and The Bishops High school.

History

St. Stanislaus opened in May 1866 as an all-boys school. In the early years, it was known as St. Stanislaus Grammar school and occupied multiple sites.
In 1907, the name was changed to St. Stanislaus College, and the present Brickdam Street site was acquired. The original part of the present building goes back to 1928, during the headship of Fr. Weld. In 1952, a further wing was added and, in November 1973, the newly built Hopkinson Wing was opened.
In 1975 it became a co-ed school and, a year later, the Government of Guyana took direct responsibility for the administration of the college.
St. Stanislaus has been administered since 2005 by a Board of Governors which reports to the Ministry of Education.
In 2012, the staff room was renovated with the help of its alumni during the summer break. In 2011, the headmistress' office was similarly renovated. There has been many renovations to the wings of the school over the summers 2013 and 2014; the most notable of these is the fully refurbished information technology lab.

Curriculum

The normal five-year course of studies leads to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council. There is a further two-year course for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination in Law, Sociology, Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies, Business, Math, Chemistry, and Physics. In 2006 it was reduced to all science, thus only the latter four studies remain available.

Facilities

The college has three science laboratories. There is a library, a geography room, Home Economics department and an Industrial Arts department. The campus has two computer laboratories, a bursary and a sick bay. The school has a hard court that is used for cricket, football and volleyball. It also has a basketball court
It also has a forum called the Marian Forum which is used as a small indoor hockey court.
The St. Stanislaus Farm, at Sophia, on the outskirts of Georgetown, offers practical training and experience to students and is also involved in agricultural production for the local market.
A playing field near the Sea Wall to the north of the city on Carifesta Avenue is owned by the college and serves as a common location for the annual school sports.

Athletics

The college has participated in inter-school, inter-zones and inter-nationals sports. The school has an active volleyball, basketball, hockey and football team which successfully represents the school at several tournaments.

Traditions

Every year, the school tries to hold an event for a national holiday. For example, they mark World Teachers' Day, Phagwah, or Holi.

House system

There are four houses — Galton, Butler, Weld and Etheridge.

Extracurriculars

There are quite a lot of extracurricular activities; There is usually indoor hockey practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Basketball practice is usually held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also Football, Volleyball and Cricket after school. Lately classes for Art have been introduced; this is usually held on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.

Notable alumni