The Dominica Grammar School (DGS) is a public co-education

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole French, Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George Parish, Dominica, Saint George Pa ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

, established in 1893, one of the oldest educational institutions on the island. Contrary to its name, the school no longer functions as a traditional

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, as it has expanded its curriculum beyond its historical scope.

History

The birthplace of the Dominica Grammar School was in "Lagon",

. It was in the building known as No. 66 Queen Mary Street, now occupied by Mr Ashton Piper, barrister-at-law and solicitor. Up to 1877, the plot of land measuring just over , at the corner of what was then Marlborough Street and Grandby Street, was vacant. It was purchased at

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

by a merchant named Henry Hamilton on behalf of his friend Alexander Robinson. The latter started to build on the plot of land in 1878. The story goes that

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his ...

, and his younger brother, Prince George, who later became

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

, visited Dominica in 1879 as naval cadets on HMS ''Bacchante'' and were entertained at the Robinson house, which was afterwards named "Clarence Hall", in honour of its royal visitor. The name, however, appears to have fallen into disuse with the passage of time. Robinson probably occupied the building as a dwelling, but when the Government decided to open the Dominica Grammar School, the spacious stone building on Grandby Street was rented for that purpose and opened as a school on 16 January 1893. The property has been in the possession of the Piper family since 1924, when it was purchased by

by Augustus Piper. The building is said to have been extensively damaged by fire before it was acquired by Piper. As of September 2021, the Principal of DGS is Edina Darwton, preceded by first-appointed female and longest serving principal Mrs. Alicia Jean-Jacques.

Curriculum

The school offers a range of academic and technical subjects aimed at catering to the increasing demands of its in excess of 800 student population. These include but are not limited to agricultural science, auto mechanics, home economics and management in addition to its traditional natural and social science offerings.

Houses

* Benedict Joseph - Red * Dawbiney - Gold * Dupigny - Green * Skinner - Chocolate Brown The two oldest Houses are Dawbiney and Skinner.

The student council

The school currently has a system in which a student council, which includes prefects and form representatives, is led by the headboy and headgirl of the school.

Notable alumni

A. C. Shillingford Albert Cavendish Shillingford (11 May 1882 — 7 March 1938) was a Dominican businessman. Early life Albert Cavendish "Gerald" Shillingford was born in Saint Joseph, Dominica, the son of Albert Charles Shillingford and Anne Marie Pinard of Ne ...

– businessman *

Alwin Bully Alwin Anthony Bully (23 November 1948 – 10 March 2023) was a Dominican cultural administrator, playwright, actor and artist, who designed the national flag of Dominica. Bully was bestowed with the Sisserou Award of Honour, the nation's second h ...

– cultural administrator, playwright, designer of the national flag of Dominica. *Sir Brian George Keith Alleyne – jurist, politician, judge * Cecil E. A. Rawle – barrister and activist * Pierre Charles - 6th

Prime Minister of Dominica The prime minister of Dominica is the head of government in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Nominally, the position was created on November 3, 1978, when Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom. Hitherto, the position existed de facto ...

, attended 1967–70, before transferring to the Saint Mary's Academy. *

Roosevelt Douglas Roosevelt Bernard "Rosie" Douglas (15 October 1941 – 1 October 2000) was a politician and human rights activist from Dominica. He served as Prime Minister of Dominica from February 2000 until his death in office eight months later. Early life ...

- 5th Prime Minister of Dominica *

Edison James Edison Chenfil James (born 18 October 1943) is a Dominican politician who was the prime minister of Dominica from June 14, 1995, to February 3, 2000, as well as the member of parliament for the Marigot constituency from 1990. He graduated from ...

- 4th Prime Minister of Dominica *

Philip Potter Philip White Potter (February 6, 1936 – November 7, 2016) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the principal tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1961 to 1971. Potter recorded ...

- leader in the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Edward Scobie Edward Vivian Scobie (23 May 1918 – 14 November 1996) was a Dominican-born journalist, magazine publisher and historian. He is best known for his research into the history of black people in Western Europe and his 1972 seminal book ''Black Br ...

- historian and journalist * Liam Sebastien -

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

cricketer. * Clarence Seignoret - former President of Dominica * Vernon Shaw - former President of Dominica *

Grayson Shillingford Grayson Cleophas Shillingford SAH (25 September 1944 – 23 December 2009) was a West Indian cricketer who played in seven Test matches from 1969 to 1972. Early life Grayson Shillingford attended Dominica Grammar School in Roseau. Career H ...

- West Indies test cricketer *

Roosevelt Skerrit Roosevelt Skerrit (born 8 June 1972) is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman o ...

- 7th Prime Minister of Dominica *

Crispin Sorhaindo Crispin Anselm Sorhaindo OBE (23 May 1931 – 10 January 2010) was the fourth President of Dominica. He served from 25 October 1993 until 5 October 1998. Early life Sorhaindo was born in 1931 in the village of Vieille Case. He attended the Vie ...

- former President of Dominica

References

External links

Dominica Grammar School website.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224054059/http://dgs.sch.dm/ , date=2014-02-24 Education in Dominica Educational organisations based in Dominica