75 years strong - Vaz Prep honours its past while investing in the future

Vaz Preparatory School is marking its 75th year next month, celebrating a legacy that began in 1951 in a makeshift garage classroom at the home of founder Hazel Vaz on Dunoon Road in St Andrew, with just three pupils.

The historic milestone will be celebrated by past and current students, teachers and well-wishers at the school’s 75th anniversary benefit gala on September 12 at the AC Hotel in St Andrew.

Leading the celebration will be Cedella Marley, chief executive officer of the Bob Marley Group of Companies and a member of the Class of 1979, who is excited about the school’s 75th anniversary.

For Marley, the spirit of the school can be summed up in many ways. She said the knowledge and experiences she gained there helped mould and shape her, instilling discipline, mutual respect, patience and tolerance.

“Go, Peart House!” she said, declaring her continued support for Vaz Prep.

The Marley family connection runs deep at the institution. Cedella and her siblings Ziggy, Stephen, Rohan, Karen and Stephanie all attended the school. She also speaks proudly of a photograph taken in 1979 showing their father, Bob Marley, watching Stephen play in a football match.

Vaz Prep has become synonymous with quality education through what many describe as a combination of hard work and prayer over the past several decades. According to sources close to the school, this has been no accident or quirk of fate. Rather, its success is attributed to the deep and abiding faith in God of its founder.

The school said its academic programme continues to emphasise individualised attention and extracurricular enrichment, including participation in the Math Olympiad and chess instruction. One current parent said the family’s nearly 90-minute daily commute has been worthwhile because of improvements in the child’s academic performance.

The anniversary committee is appealing to alumni and supporters to help sponsor attendance for staff members who have served the school for 25 years or more.

Organisers say the anniversary is not only a celebration of the school’s founding, but also a recognition of the educators and staff members who have sustained it through decades of change in Jamaica’s education system.

Additionally, the school’s alumni roll reads like a cross-section of Jamaica’s global impact. Four outstanding past students stand out as symbols of the institution’s accomplishments.

Outstanding achievers

(1) Five-time Olympic medallist Sanya Richards-Ross attended the school from age four to seven. Richards-Ross, who won four Olympic gold medals and is now a track and field analyst for NBC Sports, was a member of the school’s track and field team during her time there.

(2) Tech executive, philanthropist and former CEO of Brocade Communications, Lloyd Carney, now serves as chairman of Grid Dynamics and director of Visa and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Awarded membership in the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander in 2025, he also serves as Jamaica’s special investment envoy for technology. He will be the keynote speaker at Vaz Prep’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Two other distinguished past students who have made significant contributions locally and internationally include Professor John-Paul Clarke, an aerospace engineer and chair of the NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee. He also holds the Ernest Cockrell Jr Memorial Chair at the University of Texas at Austin and co-founded Universal Hydrogen.

The fourth outstanding achiever is Marley, an author, businesswoman and cultural ambassador.

In the meantime, Peter Richardson, president of the Past Students’ Association, stated that “Vaz Prep is one of the most disciplined educational institutions, and as such has produced some of the best in all fields”.

“From those first students in 1951, to the athletes, scientists, diplomats and artists who followed, it has been a journey.”

Added Richardson: “The Vaz story is a Jamaican story. It is one of discipline, ambition, faith and the belief that honest labour, faithfully applied, bears a lovely face.”

The Vaz Prep Gala is intended not only to reunite past students, but also to raise $75 million to support a scholarship fund, construct a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) lab, and build a creative learning centre.

“As the school celebrates its past, the gala will provide an opportunity to invest in the new chapter,” said fundraising director Simone Fisher-Sobers.

During the black-tie affair, tribute will be paid to long-serving principal Beverly Ulett and past students who have excelled in track and field, medicine, the creative arts and public service.