A West Bay family has opened a Montessori school in the district not only to provide additional classroom spaces for young children in the district, but also to honour the memory of their late parents – Captain Shelby Hydes and his wife Jane.
The Montessori West school on Capt. Reginal Parsons Drive was a dream long in the making before it opened its doors for the first time last month on land that was once the family farm, according to architect and civil servant Tristan Hydes, one of the six Hydes siblings.
“My mom and my dad were both very, very community minded,” Tristan said.
His mother Jane was a seamstress who made school uniforms, while his father was a sea captain who, whenever he returned home from sea, came laden with goods that friends and neighbours had requested.
The commitment of Shelby and Jane Hydes to the local community is evident by simply glancing out the window of the new school. Immediately across the road is the Church of God at West Bay with its attached building – the Jane and Shelby Hydes Memorial Hall. The couple donated the land on which the church and hall were built.
“She made all the uniforms, not just for West Bay Primary but for a lot of the schools,” Tristan said of his mother.
The Hydes siblings – brothers Tristan, Everard and the late Bendel Hydes, and sisters Shauna Haylock, who is the school’s director, Sharol Bush and Shannon Hydes – all grew up in West Bay, and spent time on the farm, tending to and milking the cattle.
He says working on the farm as children gave him and his siblings a good work ethic and made them well-rounded individuals, “and that’s the basic core principles behind Montessori – teaching you about community, teaching you to be well mannered, independent, and how to do things on your own. … That’s one of the reasons why we chose Montessori rather than a regular pre-school.”
Tristan recalls his parents delivering milk to neighbours in the area.
“We’re a community-minded family,” he said. “We came from humble beginnings and we thought, what could we do to recognise our parents and honour their wishes.”
The idea for the school had been on the family’s minds for several years, he said, but it was really during the COVID lockdown when they found themselves with some time on their hands to solidify their plans.
And they may not just stop at the new Montessori. That school is built on half an acre of land, and there’s still another four and a half acres of undeveloped land next door that could, one day, be home of another school for older children.
“We want to see something really good for West Bay,” he said. “West Bay is growing; there aren’t many pre-schools in the district. There are a couple of primary schools, but there’s no high school.
“We want to do something more. We don’t know yet what that is. We’re still looking at it, we have some options, but we’re really focused on the community.”
With school places in short supply in Cayman, as the population continues to grow, a new school in any district is a welcome addition, as is evident by the daily drop-ins by parents looking for places for their young children at Montessori West.
In the hour that the Compass was at the school, a couple dropped in for an impromptu visit to ask for a tour of the facilities and to find out if there were any places available. This is an almost daily occurrence, said Tristan’s wife, Yaremis Chiari-Hydes, who is the school’s administrator.
In a nod to the land’s farming past, Montessori West will have a small petting zoo with goats and rabbits, and grow boxes where the children will be able to grow plants, says Chiari-Hydes.
Tristan drew up the designs for the bright, airy building, with its extensive playground in the backyard, and was the project manager. He says no trees were knocked down to build the school, though shrubbery and brush was cleared to make way for it. As a result, the school remains surrounded by trees and greenery – again, in acknowledgement of the farm.
“In the front, there’s a tree that’s about 30 years old. It’s been there from the time I was a kid. We used to walk past it,” he said.
Starting out small
The school has started out with just 10 children for this first term, but those numbers are expected to grow considerably.
Chiari-Hydes says there will be 20 students enrolled by the end of this school year, and by the start of the 2025-26 term, she’s expecting full enrolment.
Maximum capacity for the school, which caters to ages 18 months to 6 years, is 65. The owners say they plan to keep the numbers below capacity, at 50 to 55, to ensure there is plenty of space in the classrooms.
Tristan and Yaremis’s own son, Axl Shelby Hydes – named in honour of his granddad – is one of the school’s first students.
Shauna Haylock, who has worked in early education for more than 30 years, has shaped the school’s programmes, much of which is sensory based, as per the Montessori principles.
Head teacher Paige Waller leads the current teaching staff of three, but more will be joining soon.
Chiari-Hydes points out that while the school is family-run, it is governed by a board of directors “to ensure robust governance practices, providing the necessary checks and balances to uphold the highest standards of educational excellence”.
An official opening celebration and tours of the building will be held on Friday, 11 Oct.
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