|
By:
Carol Provost (Class of 1976)
On a May day
in 1880, Mary Ann Justina (Jessie) Ripoll, Jamaican-born young
woman of mixed heritage (African, French and Portuguese)
purchased Alpha cottage on 43 acres in Kingston. She
made the purchase for the sum of £800, her accumulated savings
and gifts. By so doing, she embarked on a mission that
would change the lives of many young men and women and impact
lives worldwide. So very humbly was born the impressive
and magnificent Alpha legacy.
Ten years
later, on December 12, 1890, a small group from the Sisters of
Mercy from the Sisters of Mercy led by Mother Winifred Furlong
arrived in Jamaica and established the order there. The
order had been founded in Ireland on December 12, 1831 by
Catherine McAuley. In 1894, the sisters established the
Convent of Mercy Academy from the seed of Alpha, which Jessie
Ripoll and her two friends, Josephine Ximines and Louise
Dugiol had planted and nurtured fourteen years prior.
The three young women entered the order and became Sister Mary
Peter Claver, Sister Margaret Mary and Sister Joseph,
respectively.
The little
cottage with one orphan grew into a complex that, in addition
to the girl's academy, included Infant, Primary, Preparatory,
Boarding, Boys' and Commercial Schools, plus Christ the King
Chapel. By its centennial milestone in 1980, Alpha
Academy had garnered a reputation as one of the island's
premier all-girls schools, an institution of impeccable
repute. It stands as the bastion, epitomizing the best
of Jamaican education.
Throughout
the years Alpha has weathered many storms, literally and
figuratively. The great Kingston earthquake and fire of
1907, Hurricane Charlie (1951), Gilbert (1988) and Ivan
(2004), also changes in government, mass migration of alumnae,
"brain drain", education crises, and funding shortfalls have
and continue to be faced. In the year 2000, an Alpha
Icon, the beloved Monkey Tamarind Baobab, estimated at 200
years old, was felled due to unsalvageable internal
damage. In the epitome of true Alpha style, a young
Baobab tree was grown from the seed to take us into the next
200 years. And yet, we persevere. In
the year 2008, Convent of Mercy Academy "Alpha" was 128 years
old -- one-hundred and twenty-eight. This is forever who
we are: the massive double gates with wrought-iron arch, the
imposing drive, McAuley Hall, Christ the King Chapel, the
Sisters of Mercy. The white midi blouses and navy blue
tunics and skirts (two inches below the knee!). The
books and the lessons, Cambridge G.C.E.’s. Our beloved
teachers and schoolmates. Aspirations strived for and
wisdom imparted. This is the aura; this is the mantle of
Alpha: Ad
Verum Et Bonum!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son,
that whoever believeth in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
John
3:16 |
