A new private primary school will be the centrepiece of a planned community on the edge of George Town, featuring sports and wellness facilities and a nature walk through the mangroves.
Island Primary, catering to up to 350 children aged 4-11, is scheduled to open next September.
The school’s owners say it is designed to meet a growing need for school spaces and could expand in future to include a middle or high school.
It is one element of a much larger, planned community under construction off the Linford Pierson Highway.
Buttonwood Park won’t feature any residential or traditional commercial units.
The concept is for an “education city” – with the school as the anchor tenant in a dedicated area of community facilities and amenities. The park will feature doctors’ and therapists’ offices, a coffee shop, swimming pool and playing field and a nature walk, among other elements.
It is being developed by a group of 12 investors, including the founders of the school, Jenn Cowdroy and Clare Thorpe, who currently run Island Montessori on Crewe Road.
That location will revert to being an early years learning centre, with the primary school students moving across to the new and expanded premises from September.
Cowdroy said the concept for Buttonwood Park had snowballed from an initial search for land for the new school.
A parent, who later became an investor in the project, found the 22-acre spot, just off the highway, and the idea evolved into a plan for a network of symbiotic businesses, health, education and recreation facilities on the same site.
She hopes another school or pre-school will take some of the remaining spots in the park. A new non-profit, GreenSpace, will operate the sports facilities and mangrove walk.
There will be retail elements, but the idea is that they will fit with the wellness and education theme.
Amenities needed
Thorpe said the hardest part had been to find investors who wanted to prioritise community needs over quick financial returns.
“Everyone’s talking about overdevelopment.
“We’re all talking about ‘we need to build infrastructure’ and we know the island can’t sustain itself as it is, but nobody’s really doing anything about it.
“We’ve given people opportunity to be part of this and to do something about it.”
The school, built around a central court yard, will be the focal point of the community.
It is being built on 4.3 acres and features 17 classrooms, each with outdoor learning decks.
With a British curriculum, adapted for Cayman’s culture and history, it will be the first new-build private school in Cayman since Cayman International School.
New principal outlines vision
Steve Coles, the former deputy principal of Cayman Prep and Sir John A. Cumber Primary, has been recruited to lead the school.
He said he was excited by the idea of building a school culture from scratch – with the parents, teachers and children all playing a role in shaping the learning environment.
He said his aim was to recruit great teachers and give them the autonomy and the freedom to build the school ethos.
“The broader idea behind our school is a community of learners that includes adults as much as it does children. I’m actually going to go out of my way and try and support teachers and parents and children to take greater ownership of what goes on in the school,” Coles added.
Thorpe said everything from the uniforms to the curriculum was designed to create a Cayman Islands experience with a community feel.
The school has been designed with open spaces and shaded nooks to help facilitate outdoor learning. A separate non-profit has been set up to help fund places for students in need.
“We want to create a school that – no matter whether you grew up here or you spent four years here as an expat – when you look back at your years at Island Primary, you know, you were in the Cayman Islands and Cayman became part of you within your school years,” said Thorpe.
Related Videos
