RHONDOR DOWLAT Sunday, September 3 2006

THERE was an atmosphere of excitement at the Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School last week, with some students screaming in elation and others shedding tears of joy as they collected their 2006 CXC examination results.

The first batch of students from the school to write the exam were “remarkably successful”, school officials reported, with more than 70 percent passes, including distinctions and credits in several subjects. The school, the first Government-assisted Pentecostal secondary school in TT, was established five years ago.

“This is our first batch of students and we are extremely proud of their performance,” said Principal Joy Griffith. She said several students received distinctions and there was a 100 percent pass rate in one particular subject.

“Overall, the full certificate passes are 70 percent plus, and this is truly a tremendous accomplishment, particularly in light of the numerous challenges we encountered as a brand new school, and the fact that 25 “special students” (low grade SEA pupils) who were part of our first intake, also wrote the exam,” Griffith said.

She said students, who did not get full certificates, came quite close to doing so.

The principal said a year ago the school moved to its “spanking new first-class, modern facilities” which put the institute in an even better position to perform with greater results.

Griffith pointed out that the school achieved pass rates of more than 80 percent in several subjects.

“By God’s grace we have been doing very well. The requests for transfers into the school are also quite high, and honestly, it’s heartbreaking to turn so many students away, not being able to accommodate them,” she said.

The School’s Board of Education and founders, Dr and Mrs. Winston Cuffie came in for high praise from the energetic Principal, who spends some 12 hours at the school each day.

“Dr Cuffie and Pastor Angela are excellent visionaries and it’s difficult not to succeed under their leadership,” she declared.

Griffith also acknowleged the important role the Ministry of Education played in the success of the school, while showering praise on her “extremely dedicated, competent staff and a proactive PTA”.

Dr Cuffie, said he was “very elated” by the success of the students.

“We are certainly excited over the results but in many ways the quality of performance was not really a surprise, since we had quite a good trend all along,” he said, adding that there was “no room for complacency”.

Candel Cuffie, who copped the school’s award for top academic student, was the CXC top-scorer with four distinctions in her overall excellent performance. Rick Gore was one of the top performing male students.