Don’t ask principal Sam Belmar ‘What’s new?’ He could grow a beard before he tells you about all the changes at Sts. Peter and Paul School.
Some 210 students in primary, middle and high school donned their blue and white uniforms and headed to class in St. Thomas’ only Catholic school two weeks ago. Situated in downtown Charlotte Amalie, it is also one of the island’s oldest private schools still operating. It opened as an elementary school in 1924 and added a high school in 1946, graduating its first seniors in 1950.
Enrollment is down somewhat from last year when there were 225 students, which Belmar says may be partly because families are struggling financially, but he is hopeful that late registrations will boost the numbers. He’s also looking to a wide swath of innovations to kindle more interest and enthusiasm.
“It’s tight economic times, but we are still adding programs,” he said.
“One of the great success stories of the past year was the culinary arts course,” he said. This year, it is being expanded so that both juniors and seniors can take advantage of the chance to learn the basics of the food industry from Chef Corey Magras.
Magras is himself an alumni of Sts. Peter and Paul. He trained stateside and worked at various hotels and restaurants – including the Ritz Carlton on St. Thomas – before spearheading the student program. His students now handle catering for school functions, including last year’s graduation dinner.
There’s a lot of hands-on learning at the school. Students in Phillip Nelthropp’s Practical Electronics class maintain the school’s music and public address system, among other things, while they also study theory in the classroom.
“This year we have a completely restructured PE program,” Belmar said. The physical education teacher, Ed August, is also the coach for a myriad of sports and doubles as the music teacher.
“What a combination!” Belmar said. “That’s a special blessing.”
Sports at the school include basketball, volleyball, soccer and soft ball. Students had participated in the Arawaks private school football team, but when Antilles School announced it would no longer host it because of insurance concerns, Sts. Peter and Paul looked into getting its own team.
“The insurance company just confirmed we can have it,” Belmar said.
Also soon to come is weight-lifting; Belmar said he hopes the program will be in place by mid-September.
Dancing is already established as a PE offering. Last year second through fifth graders learned and performed quadrille dancing. This year eighth graders will participate in the Dancing Classrooms program for ballroom dancing.
On the music scene, Belmar said the school is reinvigorating and expanding the school choir so it will cover virtually all grade levels and all voices, male and female.
Meanwhile, the school is not neglecting the more traditional academic subjects. It will be up for reaccreditation this school year and Belmar and the staff are already preparing for what can be a grueling process.
“We are putting things in place as we go along,” he said. All the staff had a daylong training, for instance, and the administration is regularly digitalizing records so it will be relatively easy to produce and organize them for the reaccreditation team.
There a few changes in the physical plant too. An enhanced security system makes generous use of cameras; the alumni association has helped with a total clean-up and renovation of the school; what had been a storage room has become a new classroom for art; pews discarded from the cathedral next door have been painted and turned into benches for students.
Meanwhile, Belmar noted the school is planning several fundraisers. New this year is an event to take place Sept. 28 on the school grounds. “SP&PCS Men Can Cook Too” – That’s Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School Men” – will be an afternoon and evening affair featuring hearty dishes and delicacies, all prepared and served by the men of the school.
Belmar said he is torn between manning the grill as he did with success for a recent function, or making something called “Oil Down” that he was introduced to when he lived in Grenada.
“It has nothing to do with oil,” he said, but a lot to do with coconut milk, pig tail, breadfruit and kallaloo (or spinach if you can’t get the real thing) all cooked over a slow fire.
