St Elizabeth Head Boy Earns ‘Munro’ First Choice

Orale Grindley, Head Boy of Mountainside Primary School in St. Elizabeth, is celebrating his outstanding performance this year in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), which is used to place students in secondary schools.

He attained the highest level of success (Highly Proficient) in all four curriculum-based tests – Mathematics, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies. Students are graded on four levels in those subjects.

In addition, the 12-year-old resident of Ridge Penn in St Elizabeth received 98 percent in the Ability Test.

“I feel like I did exceptionally well,” he told The Beacon, adding that he has been placed at his first choice of secondary school – Munro College. His placement score is 375.

The aspiring doctor, whose performance also made him the top PEP student at Mountainside Primary, disclosed that his biggest challenge was to remain focused during the COVID-19 pandemic, which shifted classes to online.

“It was really hard to focus at home during this pandemic especially because I was not fond of online classes and I got discouraged at one point. There was also the distraction of the devices and much more. Online school was extremely difficult,” he added.

Face-to-face classes eventually resumed.

“I was able to get back on track, focus and be more dedicated in my school work,” Orale said.

His parents, Sophia and Oral Grindley, are beaming with pride and joy.

“I was filled with joy; I even got goosebumps when I heard that Orale passed for Munro College. I even got teary eyed. Orale got his first choice school and his family is very proud of him,” his mother commented.

She added: “I knew Orale had the ability to perform at his best because he has always been mastering his school work, but I feared that losing so much time away from school [due to the pandemic] would have affected his performance.”

Mrs Grindley, in the meantime, expressed gratitude to the staff of Mountainside Primary for not giving up on her son.

His grade six teachers, Phylicia Ebanks and Symonthia Shakespeare, were always confident that Orale would have defied the odds.

“He is a smart young man and I saw the potential in him and pushed him to do his very best,” Shakespeare said.

Ebanks told The Beacon: “I was confident Orale would have done extremely well like the others. However, being Highly Proficient in all areas has left me screaming uncontrollably. He really dismantled the PEP exams.”

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