WELCOME TO
ST. CATHERINE HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI
ASSOCIATION NE INC.

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At St. Catherine High School Alumni NE Inc., we are committed to spirited learning, growth, development and fun. We empower our students to ask insightful questions, explore disciplinary boundaries, and confront conventional ways of thinking. We invite you to learn more about St. Catherine High and discover an education built for you.

About US

The North East Chapter is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1994 and incorporated under the laws of the State of New York in 2007. A seven-member board of directors coordinates the activities of the North East Chapter. Membership is open to all former students of St. Catherine High School, their spouses and teachers. Meetings are held quarterly at various locations. Each member is required to pay membership dues of $30.00 annually to remain in good standing and to maintain his/her membership and voting privileges. In addition, contributions are requested from time to time for various fundraising efforts.

ALUMNI

Events

HISTORY

Stories

WE HAVE FAITH IN OUR STUDENT FUTURE

Our students are talented, hard-working and full of good ideas. We encourage and empower them to bring their ideas to life. Hands-on opportunities are what we’re all about.

Empower

St. Catherine High School offers a transformative educational experience, shaping students into confident, empowered leaders ready to make a positive impact on their community and beyond.

Engage

St. Catherine High NE Alumni fosters active involvement in the athletic development and participation of the Annual Penn's Relay Team. Past Students and donors encouraged to connect & contribute to the program so our young athletes can thrive.

Awarding

Awarding ceremonies at St. Catherine High NE Alumni recognize and honor outstanding achievements, fostering a culture of excellence and motivation among students and faculty alike. Each year deserving students are awarded monetary sponsorship for continuing education.

HONORARY MENTION

Centurion

Sister Mary Paschal

Sister Mary Paschal Figueroa retired from  St. Catherine High as principal in 1979, but her name still reverberates along the corridors and within the halls and classrooms of the institution, impacting effectively with positive vibrations, the current generation of students.

The school’s various communities were at the forefront of the giant educator’s farewell service on May 2 at Clavar Home, St Andrew, highlighting the many accolades she received for her life of service, especially at St Catherine High.

Sister Paschal, as she is more affectionately called, died at 2.04 pm April 19 at the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital of the West indies at 101 years. The service had a few selected individuals in attendance while being streamed virtually to thousands, because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines of the government of Jamaica.

The outstanding educator had a distinguished career which lasted from 1936 until retiring as Principal of the Catholic-managed St Catherine High School in 1979. She had taken up the position in 1962, for 18 years, to be the longest-serving principal of the institution.

Sister Paschal sowed the seeds of boys being admitted to St. Catherine High, with the first set attending in 1971, upon the request of the Ministry of Education, which was seeking to find a space in the secondary school system for boys in Spanish Town, where the school is situated.

St. Catherine High NE Alumni Scholarship Program

passionate, hard-working and full of good ideas.

OUR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENTS

YEAR FOUNDED
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TRAINED TEACHERS
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GRADUATED STUDENTS
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AWARDS WINNER
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ANNUAL BANQUET

Night of music, dancing and fun as we celebrate our Alma Mater on Saturday October 19th at Leonard Palazzo. See the Events Page for more details.

St. Catherine High School motto, “Prayer & Work Conquer All” encapsulates its ethos of embracing knowledge and wisdom fearlessly. It serves as a guiding principle, urging students to seek understanding, challenge boundaries, and strive for excellence in all endeavors. Rooted in a tradition of academic rigor and personal growth, this motto inspires the St. Catherine community to pursue intellectual curiosity and embrace lifelong learning. As a beacon of educational enlightenment, it symbolizes the transformative journey embarked upon by each student within its halls. Thanks to our FOUNDING MEMBERS for embracing this vision and its values.

BOARD MEMBERS

Carl Wickam

Treasurer

Dwight Cuffe

Director

Faye Gordon

Assistant Treasurer

Dion Barnes Robinson

President

Leonie Dixon

Director

Lorraine Smith

Director

Michele Bartley

Secretary

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HONORARY MENTIONS

Brief biography of Rev. Matthew J. Ashe, S.J.

Rev. Matthew J. Ashe, S.J. was born on December 22, 1911, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from Cathedral High School in 1929 and from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1933. On August 14 th of that year, he entered the Society of Jesus at Shadowbrook, Lenox, Massachusetts. He was ordained a priest on June 12, 1943. From 1945 until 1983, he served in Jamaica, West Indies. From 1945 to 1947, he was a parish priest at St. Ann’s in Kingston, Jamaica. From 1947 to 1959, Fr. Ashe was the pastor at St. Joseph’s in Spanish Town and worked with its large education network from kindergarten through high school throughout that time. In conjunction with the sisters of Mercy, he opened St. Catherine High School in 1949. Fr. Ashe also served as chaplain at a prison and at a home for lepers, staffed by the Marist Sisters in Spanish Town. St. Joseph’s, the largest parish in Jamaica outside Kingston, tripled the number of its Masses during Fr. Ashe’s tenure, which ended when he was summoned to help organize the new Campion College in Kingston in 1959. Fr. Ashe taught at Campion College from 1960-1983. In 1984, he retired to Campion Center in Weston, Massachusetts. He died of a heart attack on June 17 th , 1990, at the age of 78, and is buried at Campion Center in Weston.

Mr. Kenneth Emmanuel Neale

Kenneth Emmanuel Neale was born on August 2, 1925 in Castle Kelly a little district just outside of Blackstonedge, St. Ann’s. It was at the elementary school in Castle Kelly that he came under the influence of A.A. Robinson (Teacher Robinson), a man who taught him poetry, and music… and life, and who probable more than any other single individual helped to set the compass-point of the young Neale in the direction of his career goal. He was bright in everything except arithmetic. So, in his teen years he was asked to help out with teaching after he passed the Jamaican Local exams.

Upon joining the staff of his old school, students immediately sought him out to solve whatever problems they had, academic or otherwise. By about 17 he obtained a job at Jeffery Town Elementary School in Guys Hill. While at Jeffery Town he stated developing his music skills, as he got a chance to play the organ at the Catholic Church. Around that time, he also met his wife Eugenie Johnson. They would get married in 1952 and had one child, Claudia.

After attending Mico Teachers College Mr. Neale assumed employment at St. Catherine All Age, where he taught every subject and was in charge of the highest grade and the sports in the school. Interestingly that was where he and our dearly beloved brother Reggie Scarlet met. Mr. Neale later went on to UWI and pursued a degree in History and Economics.

As a young teacher, he was once given a book as a gift. The book taught the basic principles of four sporting disciplines. Kenneth already knew three of them but the only one he was not conversant with was basketball. Moving under the assumption that the only way to learn is to teach it, he took five youngsters and began to teach them the game. That is how basketball came to Spanish Town, and instantly he met success. HE entered competitions with the primary school boys and were winners against all the high school teams. Kenneth was now public property, as he and then Kingston College Principal Douglas Forrest would team up to start Jamaica’s first school basketball league.

During all this he always keep in touch with his music by assisting with Mass at St. Josephs, before becoming organist and Choir Director in the 1960a. He entered the students in many Music Competitions and would always add verse to existing folk songs, as the National Music Festival leaders encourages originality. HE changed some of the words to Mango Time, adding some of the now popular lyrics, and set other interesting village stories to music such as “Poor Lizy Jane.” Compositions such as “John Gone a Foreign,” Wi Freedom Come at Last”, One pown a Shawl” and Mi nuh Hear Nuh Rain are also some of his more popular folk songs.

With the need to expand St. Catherine Primary, the Ministry established St. Catherine Junior Secondary, with an entrance on Old Harbor Road. He was consequently transferred to be in charge of the boys of the Junior Secondary School on the St. Catherin High Campus. Sister Mary Paschal was asked to be principal of both the Junior secondary and High school, and she saw the wisdom of convincing the ministry to combine the two schools. He would now teach History, Geography, and Music, eventually becoming vice principal 1979. It was at St. Catherine High school that Kenneth Neale became an icon, a national treasure. Through employed to teach academic subjects, he taught that and everything else. In fact, he taught and imparted life, hope, love, justice, fairness and decency, the same principles which can be seen in his life. And his music confirmed…. At a time when for JCDC competitions, only one choir would be declared the gold medal winner for the island, on a number of occasions St. Catherine High was so chosen. There was a healthy rivalry with Ardene High and Excelsior occasionally feature in. For many years, the choirs melodious sound was theme song for JBC TV popular show, “ Hill and Gully Ride.” He retired as Vice Principal of St. Catherine High in 1992, but remained on staff, eventually as part-time music teacher.

 

Jacinth Allen Donaldson

Class of 1976

MRS. GLORIA MILLICENT JOHNSON

Gloria Millicent Johnson was born in Auchtembeddie in the parish of Manchester.  As her parents were teachers who taught in various schools, she received her early education at Elgin, Old England and Ebenezer Elementary Schools.  She taught at Ebenezer Elementary School as a pre trained teacher before entering Bethlehem Teacher’s College in 1954.

Having graduated from Bethlehem Teacher’s College in 1956, she spent the next two and a half years teaching at Albert Town Elementary School and two years at Denham Town Elementary School.  In 1961 she received a British Council Scholarship to study Physical Education at Derby Diocesan College in England.

On her return to Jamaica, she joined the staff of St Catherine High School in Spanish Town, where she taught Physical Education and Geography.

While on leave from St. Catherine High School she attended the University of the West Indies and gained the Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and History in 1973.  After having spent 29 years at St. Catherine High School she retired as Vice Principal in 1992.  Immediately after retiring she joined the staff of St. Andrew High School where she taught Geography at the sixth form level for 13 years.

Her community service over the years included:   

  • Founder and coach of the Thunder Bird Netball Club in Spanish Town
  • St Catherine High School Parent Teachers’ Association.
  • Secretary
  • Vice President
  • Sunday School and Young Church Teacher at the Webster United Church
  • Teacher with the Homework Program at the Webster United Church.
  • Member of the Optimist Club of Spanish Town with responsibility for Youth Activities
  • President of the Geography Teacher’s Association
  • An active member of the Retired Teachers Association.

She is a recipient of St Catherine Parish Council’s Certificate of Appreciation in the field of Education and Community Development for 1997 and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Golden Torch Award 1996.

She is married to Selbourne, also a teacher and has one daughter and one son.

Original Uniform

Original Uniform dedicated to the honor of The Sacred Heart

Mrs. Colleen Brown

Former Principal Mrs. Colleen Brown and a former member of staff

Current Chairman

Current Chairman of the school board and former Head Girl and Girls Guide Sharon Dale Meeting Queen Elizabeth

Former Principal Sister

Former Principal Sister Mary Paschal Figorera Meeting former Prime Minister Hon. Michael Manley on a visit to SCHS