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300 in 3 · Alumni

300

Age Quod Agis

John Wolmer wrote his will on 21 May 1729. The 300th anniversary of that bequest is 21 May 2029. Three years. That is 300 in 3.

The Trust has named the work of those three years: the Wolmer’s 300 Technology and Multimedia Expansion Programme. Courtney Wynter, chairman of the joint board of management, announced it on Wolmer’s Day 2024, at 295 years, and set it in motion on Wolmer’s Day 2026, at 297, inside the Douglas Orane Auditorium.

Given the local trends in skills development driven by rapid technology changes, the rise of artificial intelligence as a daily necessity, an investment in our economy, Wolmer’s must now position itself for the next 300 years.
Courtney Wynter · joint board of management · Wolmer’s Day 2026 · Jamaica Observer, 22 May 2026

The expansion

Construction on a third storey of the Sixth Form Block began in July 2026. Over three years the programme adds a minimum of sixteen new rooms, including a modern lecture hall. Wynter called it the largest single infrastructure investment in the schools’ history. The Sixth Form Block.

Begun July 2026

Sixth-form floor

An additional floor on the sixth-form block — Glasspole House, completed in 1984 for both high schools.

Sixteen rooms

Lecture hall

A modern lecture hall among a minimum of sixteen new rooms.

Laboratories

ICT labs

Expanded information and communications technology laboratories.

Studio

Professional studio

A professional studio for the multimedia work of the three schools.

STEAM

Multimedia centre

A multimedia STEAM centre — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — fitted to accommodate an academy.

The point

The next 300 years

State-of-the-art learning tools, designed to scale. Wynter’s public aim: a regional leader in educational technology beyond 2029.

As announced on Wolmer’s Day 2024 and 2026. 297 years · the road to 300 · 295 years.

Already begun

In November 2024 the three campuses went onto a solar array — 954 panels, US$445,000, led by a personal gift of US$323,000 from Old Boy Lloyd Carney (Boys, 1970s). Savings are in the order of J$16 million a year. Nine hundred and seven LED lights and sixty variable-speed air-conditioning units went in with the panels.

The Trust said those savings are to be applied to Carney’s object: to make Wolmer’s one of the premier science and technology schools in the world — Wi-Fi, internet access, science labs, and teaching. He put the three schools at 3,400 students.

Wolmer’s gave me the grounding in science, maths and self-confidence that has been the bedrock of my success in life. I want to give the younger generation of 3,400 students at our three Wolmer’s schools the same solid foundation.
Lloyd Carney · Jamaica Observer, 22 November 2024

The solar gift

Solar panels on a Wolmer’s campus. Photo contributed / Jamaica Observer
954 panels across Boys, Girls and Prep. November 2024.

The road

1729

21 May — John Wolmer writes his will, leaving money for a free school in the parish of his death.

1736

The Trust is established by law.

2019

21 May is proclaimed Wolmer’s Day by the Governor-General. The only Jamaican school so recognised.

2024

295 years. Wynter announces the Wolmer’s 300 Technology and Multimedia Expansion Programme. In November the solar array is commissioned.

2026

297 years. Construction on the Sixth Form Block began in July. Douglas Orane passed the 300 torch to Principal Dwight Pennycooke.

2029

21 May — three hundred years. 300 in 3 is the three years that remain.

The expansion fund

Give. Mark the gift Sixth Form Block. US$1,300,000. Needed by the end of October 2026.

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