The History of BHS

The Bermuda High School for Girls was founded in 1894 thanks to the determination of Mrs. Grosvenor Tucker, who wished to provide the very best education for her six girls. She wrote in 1928:

“It was early in the spring of 1894 that the idea of establishing a High School for Girls first took shape in the minds of several in Bermuda who were alive to the existing dearth of educational facilities available for them. Not every man could afford to send his daughters to England, and we had to have a school run on English lines for the girls of this old British colony. Informal meetings were held in many homes of those interested and the pros and cons discussed at every “tea” for several weeks. The “cons” predominated, and many were the dark prophecies uttered. “there is no money,” – “People haven’t got it,” etc.”

BHS was founded on the lines of Cheltenham Ladies College in England which had proved itself as leader in girls education at that time. With the help of Mrs Beale, then Headmistress of Cheltenham, Miss Matilda Tothill was chosen to establish the school as its first Headmistress. Mrs St George Butterfield, in a speech given during the school’s fiftieth anniversary said:

“The task assigned was to build in this far away little colony, a school on Cheltenham lines and ideals, and thus bring to Bermuda, as it has been taken to the far corners of the Empire, the influence of that great parent school in the mother land.”

On the 17^th September 1894, the school opened in two rooms of a rented house on Reid Street . School fees were set at three guineas a term for each student 10 years or older, and two guineas for the younger pupils. The school opened with 51 pupils (ages 6-17) and three teachers.

Under Miss Tothill the school, right from its inception, adopted the Cambridge Local Syndicate examinations which set the importance, right from the start, of external examinations. This tradition of setting international standards has continued to this day.

Mr William Barr saw that the location of the school on Reid Street was unsuitable and decided to give the land on which the school now sits. Mr and Mrs Barr lived at “Long House”, which is now the site of the Ace and XL buildings on Pitts Bay Road and they owned the land from Barr’s Bay through the existing school property.

General Hastings was an American who moved to Bermuda with his family after the American Civil War and built and lived in a home called “Soncy” in Point Shares. He was one of the schools’ most enthusiastic supporters and started the building fund as well as oversaw the plans and construction of the building first erected – now known as the Tucker Centre (in recognition of Mrs. Grosvenor Tucker) where the administrative offices and some classes now occupy. Staff and students moved into the new building on 19^th June 1899.

It was not until 1927 that the school was given possession of the playing field and in 1940 it was leveled to take on the shape of the existing field. There was also a grass tennis court where the old gym is and, after the Gosling Wing was built, courts were built on the field in 1943.

It was decided in 1900 that a school crest should be established and Miss Tothill designed one along the lines of the badge at Cheltenham Ladies College, with an Easter lily at its centre rather than a daisy. “…..the white flower – emblem of perfection, and the straight green stem, strong purpose; the legend on the scroll: Purity and Strength….

A house system was introduced by Miss Gwendoline Ellis M. Wright in 1923. At that time the school was divided into three houses each named after important benefactors – namely Barr (blue), Hastings (yellow) and Tothill (green). The fourth house was added in 1948 and was called Middleton (pastel pink) in memory of May Middleton who was a well known local artist and who taught at the school for more than 30 years. School uniforms were also introduced around this time.

Boys attended BHS for most of its existence but only in the kindergarten and first primary year levels. The first boy joined the school in 1895 and by 1924 it was decided to only allow them in kindergarten as, by this time, Saltus Cavendish had been established but there was still no place for boys of kindergarten age. Boys remained at the school until they started to phase this out in the 1960’s and the last student left in 1970.

An important date to note was 3^rd August 1926 which was the date upon which the Bermuda High School for Girls Association was formed and a constitution formally adopted.

The Lady Asser Hut was erected in 1927, to the south of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, by the Girl Guides. The land that it was built on was given to the BHS Association in trust for: “Girl Guides and Brownies, Domestic Economy classes and all or any uses non-political and non-sectarian for the benefit of women and girls.” The governing body includes the wife of the Governor, the wife of the Bishop and the Principal of the School.

The history of the school had consistently included times when there has been chronic need for space and the funds to provide for capital improvement. The Rose Gosling wing, designed by Mr W Ernest Motyer, was completed in 1932 and, at last, provided students with a gymnasium as well as additional classroom space and an assembly area.

The Torch ceremony was established by Dr Marjorie Hallett in 1937. In this ceremony former students join with students and staff to pass a flaming torch from hand to hand. The procession starts with the oldest Old Girl and ends with the youngest student and is carried out in absolute silence. After everyone has touched the torch Alfred Noye’s poem, The Torchbearer is read:

So I Speak

Not for myself, but for the age unborn.

I caught the fire from those who went before,

The bearers of the Torch, who could not see

The goal to which they strained; I caught their fire,

And carried it only a little way beyond;

But there are those that wait for it I know,

Those who will carry it on to victory,

I dare not fail them. . . Looking back, I see

Those others . . . with their arms outstretched

. . . pointing to the future.

This ceremony still remains the most important event in the school calendar and is followed by lunch and the AGM for the Alumnae Association.

1944 was the year of the school’s 50^th anniversary and a somber time due to the effects of World War II. Appropriately, it was also the year that women in Bermuda were granted suffrage. The war brought a number of evacuees from England who swelled the numbers but brought a breath of fresh air at a grim time.

The property known as Curling was acquired in 1945 and the Art and Music Departments moved into this building in order to restore the old library which had been made into a classroom due to shortage of space for classrooms. Soon after it was decided that the school was in urgent need of space and the Government gave BHS a grant to enable it to build the Hallett Wing which was completed in 1952.

It was not until 1963 that the BHS Association decided that the school should become independent of the Government. This was a difficult decision as, since 1921, the school had received £200 a quarter from the Government. Proposed changes in the Government school system in 1962 were considered to be contrary to the ideals established by then Headmistress Dr. Hallett. Also, in 1961, the field that the school had been using for about 40 years was purchased from the Government for £12,000.

A significant time in the life of the school occurred after the House of Assembly passed legislation in 1967 making null and void any references to racial segregation. The Managing Committee voted unanimously to integrate the school and the first black students were enrolled in September 1968.

1970 saw the departure of boys from the Kindergarten but they were re-introduced when, during the headship of John Delaney, BHS joined Saltus Grammar School to form what was called the Senior Year program. Enrollment in this program quickly grey to 70 and boys and girls obtained admission to colleges and universities in USA and Canada.

The building of the Art Centre, now called the Frances Tucker Zuill wing, was completed during Mr Delaney’s term and the school saw significant growth in numbers as well as great strides in desegregation of the study body.

The reputation of BH S on the island for academic excellence was firmly established since its early days and statistics from the 1980’s showed that the school led its fellow private schools in obtaining exceptional “O” level (now GCSE) results.

What is known as the Butterfield wing was completed in 1990. It houses science and computer labs as well as the secondary library, music rooms, classrooms and a dance room. An additional floor was subsequently added to provide extra classrooms.

Another significant improvement to the campus was the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre. This multi-purpose sports facility was completed in November 2002. This facility includes a gymnasium which can accommodate 2 full size basketball courts as well as badminton, volleyball, netball, tennis and climbing wall. In addition, the building includes a dance room for aerobics and a fitness and weights area.

In order to continue to fulfill our mission “to educate students to the highest international standard, preparing them for productive and fulfilling lives” the Board decided that BHS should offer students the gold standard of education – the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The school purchased the property formerly known as Dover House and opened on September 11th 2001 with 12 students. By 2005 it was clear that we needed to expand the facility as the projections showed a likely enrollment of 80 students in 2007/08.

An expansion of the Renaissance Centre for the IB Program was completed in October 2006 which more than doubled the size of the facility and provided additional classrooms and much needed common room space.

In February 2007 then Head of School, Roy Napier, wrote:

“In bringing the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme to BHS, we are very proud to have raised the bar for standards in education. Our students have competed in the most widely recognized academic programme which is now envied in many countries by government school and private institutions alike. Indeed, in the United Kingdom, for example, many schools have embraced the IB Diploma. Nationally, in the UK, there is serious discussion about abandoning the traditional “A” levels, in favour of a British Baccalaureate, modeled on the IB Diploma. Students at BHS have shown that they can compete most favorably with students internationally. Last year, Cierra Machado, scored at the 99.6 percentile, placing her in the top 100 students world-wide. Overall, 80% of our qualified candidates for the IB Diploma have obtained their full diploma, with the remaining students gaining IB certificates. This means that our students are, indeed, educated to the highest educational standards. Our graduates are readily recognized by universities in the USA, United Kingdom Canada and beyond. Many of our IB students are obtaining impressive offers of scholarships to universities abroad.

To accommodate the IB Diploma programme within the normal span of high school years as compared to USA, the UK and Canada, for example, we now have our students at BHS complete the GCSE programme in Year 11, allowing two additional years for the IB Diploma. We are particularly pleased that our GCSE results in recent years show that the marks achieved in GCSE examinations now written in Year 11, are better than the marks attained when exams were written in Year 12.

At BHS, our staff and students are to be congratulated on the highly successful implementation of the IB Diploma programme. Bermudian students can now reach for the highest international standard, the gold standard in education, the IB Diploma. They compete with the best in the world and reach world standards with remarkable levels and rates of success.

The Board of Trustees has demonstrated vision and commitment, in bringing this exciting programme to Bermuda, and it is with great pleasure that this expanded Renaissance Centre for the IB Diploma programme is opened today. Without the hard work of our students and staff the IB Diploma would not have become a reality.”