Briggs Preparatory School is a private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 primary school in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

. It was established in 1975, by the late Esmee Briggs, a former teacher of Bishop Anstey High School

Bishop Anstey High School

Bishop Anstey High School , abbreviated BAHS, is a government-assisted all-girls secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, founded by the Anglican Bishop Arthur Henry Anstey on January 13, 1921...

, and her husband, the late Malcolm Briggs, a former clerk at the Red House

The Red House (Trinidad and Tobago)

The Red House is the seat of Parliament in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The architectural design of the Red House is of Greek revival style. The original building was destroyed in the 1903 water riots and was rebuilt in the year 1907. The Red House is located centrally within the capital...

. The school caters to children ages 3-11 at which point, children enter secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

. As well as traditional subjects, students study music, religious instruction, computing

Information and communication technologies

Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...

, art, and drama.

History

Originally, the school started with seven students, and was located on the corner of Edward and Gordon Streets in Port of Spain (near Bishop Anstey High School). Within a year, the school quickly outgrew the space and moved to 167-169 Belmont Circular Road, obliquely opposite Providence Girls' Catholic School. Sometime after the transfer of the school, from the Briggs family, the school was relocated to Cascade. The Belmont building is now owned by the Trinidad and Tobago Retired Persons Association and is leased to Belmont Boys Roman Catholic School. The teaching staff were:

1 Patrica Joseph
2 Shirley Baptise
3 Marie Desilse
4 Francine Pouchet
5 Majorie Taylor
6 Karen Samaroo-Daniel
7 Loyce Williams
8 Angela Henry
9 Claudia Fingal
10 Anges Rouse
11 Ann-Mareie Alexander

The Janitors were:

1. Vernon
2. May
3. Enis

The office staff were:

1. Rosemary Perkins
2. Claudia Fingal
3. Ms Holder
4. Malcolm Briggs (accountant)

The maintenance staff were:

1.Vernon Appoy (electrcican)
2.Francois (painter)

When the students enter standard 1 each one gets a house button to represent each house.Any one not wearing it will lose house points

1. Red - Flamboyant
2. Yellow - Allamanda
3. Purple - Patriya
Esmee Briggs started the school with the help of her friends, Ms. Ethel Smith and Mrs. McCarthy. The pioneering members of staff were, Claudia Wilson (now Fingal) as school secretary and Rosemary Hezekiah (now Perkins) as administrator and bookkeeper. Along with teachers were Ms. Sergeant, Lucy Pierre, Angela Henry and Shirley Hinkson (now Baptiste). After the retirement of Mrs. Briggs as principal, Mrs. Marie-Michelle Conyette succeeded her as principal and developed the academic structures and systems of the school.

The building at 167 Belmont Circular Road was a converted home, with a large lot behind, separated by a fenced-off stream. During July of 1978, the yard was paved and the stream was covered by large wooden slats, allowing for more open space. Around 1980, the school constructed three additional classrooms, as the student population had outgrown the main building.

The leadership mantle has been handed over to Mrs. Claudia Fingal as principal. She is working very closely with Vice-Principal, Mrs. Karen Samaroo-Daniel and the Manager Mrs. Sarah Wallace in the shaping of Briggs future. They have inherited a highly professional staff, very committed to Briggs.

Curriculum

The school relies on the North American elementary school curriculum, importing textbooks from the U.S. The Scott Foresman system was used extensively for math, science, reading and composition. As is done in the U.S, the books were loaned out to the students at the beginning of the school term and returned at the end.

Uniform

The school uniform has undergone several changes over the years. Boys wore a blue patterned shirt with jacket and grey short pants. Girls wore dresses of the same blue patterned material. The blue uniform pattern changed over the years, starting with a powder blue pattern with criscross stripes. This was changed to a blue background with a small white uneven block in square patterns. At some time around 1984, the pattern changed to a thick, heavy squared darker blue due to unavailability of the old pattern. This remained the same until sometime in the mid 1990s when it was changed to the current light striped blue.

Houses

When the students enter Junior 1 (equivalent to Standard 1 or first grade in the US system) each is assigned to a house and given a button to be worn on their uniform. The three houses are Flamboyant (red), Allamanda (yellow) and Petriya (purple).

Special events

The school celebrates special events such as St. Nicholas day, when the school goes to the All Saints Anglican Church. In December of every year, there is a Christmas concert and party at the end of the first term. There is a Sports day, as well as, a Speech day, that takes place every year, at which prizes are given to students based on merit.

During their final year at Briggs Preparatory School, students of the standard five class attend outings to different places, including a Tobago trip after writing the SEA exams. After Speech day, there is a graduation ceremony, at which the students get their certificates.