Rusea's High School in Lucea,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, established in 1777, is the fourth oldest, continuously operated high school in Jamaica, after Wolmer's Boys', one of the

Wolmer's Schools Wolmer's Schools, also referred to as Wolmer's Trust Group of Schools, is located in Kingston, Jamaica and currently consists of Wolmer's Pre-School, Wolmer's Preparatory School and two high schools: Wolmer's Trust High School for Boys and Wolmer ...

(1729), Manning's School (1738) and St. Jago High School (1744).

History

The history of the Rusea's High School dates back thirteen years before the actual establishment of the institution when Martin Rusea, a French refugee, as gratitude to the town of Lucea for the kindness shown to him, bequeathed in his will, dated 23 July 1764, to provide for the establishment of a trust school for the children of

. The school was established on 22 December 1777, when the Jamaica Assembly passed an Act (18 Geo. III c. 7), after which the Free School was formally set up. In the 18th century, these schools originated from their benefactors’ concerns for the education of the country's poor, usually the children of poor whites, as there was no system in place for the education of the children of slaves. In 1982, Rusea's High School was merged with the Hanover Secondary School. The combined school retained the name Rusea's High School. The traditional colors of the Rusea's high school are yellow, blue and green. The school consists two campuses: the main campus located on Watson Taylor Drive; and the Fort Charlotte campus on Fort Charlotte Drive.

Academics

In addition to the regular academic curriculum, Rusea's also offers 10 vocational subjects. The sixth-form programme was restarted in 2001 and offers natural science, business studies, the humanities, modern languages and environmental science.

Sports

Rusea's has won the daCosta Cup high-school football competition 11 times (second only to

Cornwall College Cornwall College may refer to: * The Cornwall College Group, in Cornwall and Devon, England * Cornwall College, Jamaica * Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada {{Disambiguation ...

): 1884, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2010, 2011, and 2017. The school has also won or shared the Olivier Shield a total of 6 times: 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, and 2002.

Historic buildings

Fort Charlotte was built in 1761 by the British for the defence of the north-westerly section Jamaica. It was built during the reign of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

of Great Britain, and is named after his

Queen Consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

, Charlotte. Alongside the fort is a Georgian brick structure known as The Barracks, which was built in 1843 to provide shelter to the soldiers stationed there. The barracks currently forms part of the Rusea's High School. The

Jamaica National Heritage Trust The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is responsible for the promotion, preservation, and development of Jamaica's material cultural heritage (buildings, monuments, bridges, etc.). The organisation maintains the list of National Heritage Sites in Ja ...

declared Fort Charlotte a

national heritage site A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regis ...

in 1993.

Notable alumni

* Dwayne Ambusley, Jamaican international footballer * Deshane Beckford, Jamaican footballer * Tamika Davis, member of the Jamaican Parliament * Enid Gonsalves, Jamaican educator and former principal * Sir Kenneth Hall, Governor-General of Jamaica (2006-2009) * Aaron Lawrence, Jamaican international footballer *

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprint (running), sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 20 ...

, Jamaican and Slovenian sprinter

Former teachers

* Enid Gonsalves, Principal (1998-1999)

References

{{Schools in Jamaica Schools in Jamaica High schools in Jamaica Buildings and structures in Hanover Parish Educational institutions established in 1777 1777 establishments in North America