Background of Fairfield Academy

Fairfield Academy is a co-educational school situated in the Black Rock, St. Michael area. The school has a roll of approximately 250 students, most of who come from the surrounding communities. The surrounding communities are typified by low income housing, high unemployment, and high crime; as a consequence, while there are many former students who have defied the odds and performed well in academics, sports, and the performing arts, most of the students struggle to meet even the most basic standards in Reading and Mathematics. As a result, in the last 15 years, the school has persistently performed below the national mean in the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Exam (BSSEE).