Daniell Institute of Learning officially opened its doors on May 5th 2011 with Miss Zakiya Daniel at the helm as principal. There’s something special in the air when Zakiya enters a room. I await her arrival for our interview at a vintage record shop just on the outskirts of town. She is lit as she steps inside the haven, to observe boxes of neatly packed records everywhere, not to mention and vintage artefacts, a contrast to the sudden downpour outdoors.

 

We exchange pleasantries and take a seat in the cozy seating area with light jazz playing on the record player. And in a few seconds, we dive straight into the heart of the interview: which are her students ages 4-17, comprising the lower school (28-30 students) and upper school (22-25 students).

“I always tell parents our first client is the child. If for some reason we feel your child can thrive in a better environment, we let you know,” Zakiya states.

She shares with The Muse that at Daniell’s it’s more than just academics.

 

“We ensure our students get the best coverage and attention with 45-minute to 90-minute (double) periods for the senior school, 40-minute periods for the lower school and a 1:8 teacher – student ratio.”

 

If the student body increases to the size pre-pandemic, we would see to it that more faculty is hired. But we are happy for now with the intimate size where we can give students personalized attention.

 

We engage the students in Mindful practice, chess, music, Visual Arts, swimming and Physical Education – pickleball, football and hockey with Coach Stacey Sui Butt.

 

2025 Pass Rate

Out of the eight students who sat the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), six passed for their 1st choice Secondary School.

 

Daniell’s also received 100% passes in the Caribbean Secondary Education  Certificate (CSEC) except for Maths and Accounts which proves a bit challenging for some students.

 

Events

The school hosts a Summer Camp each year which has been a big hit with the students. It’s usually four weeks with a mixture of academics and recreation and a half-day academics-only camp for the school’s secondary students.

 

In 2025, Daniell’s introduced a fifth week, with a full fun week for everybody and one day at the Saaman Estate in St. Clair.

 

“Picture kids having a ball on bumper cars and bouncy castles everywhere you turn! The children absolutely loved it!” Zakiya beams.

 

The Haunted House was also a “show stopper” last year, so much so, they brought it back this year with a slight postponement (at the time of writing this article) due to unexpected circumstances on the actual day of Halloween.

 

Apart from the Annual Sports Day; post-covid the school have been hosting an annual Carnival ‘Jump-Up’ with this year the inclusion of Calypso and Ole’ Mas Competitions, followed by an Aerobathon!

 

2025 also saw a Night Boat Cruise for parents along with several fundraising movie nights for both the lower and upper schools.

 

With the help of the Parents Support Group/PSG, Daniell’s events are off to a great start, with the possibility of an Annual Christmas Fundraiser in the future.

 

Success Stories

There are too many success stories to speak about. However, Zakiya tells of a few that stand out.

Hockey Champions!

On 8th June 2025 the junior school won first place in their division of the Stacey Siu Butt Hockey School’s annual Youth Hockey Tournament. Several other primary schools and junior clubs participated in this tournament and though every year Daniell’s places in the top four, this was the first time that they placed first. One of their students, Nate Wallace (who now attends his first choice school), even copped the award for Sportsmanship. A proud moment indeed!

 

Staff Achievements

Zakiya attributes the success of her school throughout the years to her passionate and dedicated staff, most of whom have been with her for six to eight years.

2025 has truly been a year of remarkable achievements for the staff of Daniell’s. Besides producing excellent results at both SEA and CSEC, our standards four and five teacher, Mrs. Geiselle Mohammed-Ramnarine, is now a published author.

Her book entitled SEA Mastering Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, now forms part of our SEA curriculum.

Additionally, two members of staff, Stacy Ghent and Afeisha Salim-Baksh, graduated from UWI-Roytec with their Bachelor’s in Primary School Education, first class honours. Mrs. Ghent had the esteemed honour of being the valedictorian while Mrs. Salim-Baksh topped her cohort receiving the Chairman’s award for her excellence.

 

Student Transformation

One success story that is notable to Ms. Daniell a.k.a. Ms D, is one involving a student’s transformation who came to them from another private school with behaviourial issues. It was so serious the teenager would always be defensive and would even wait till getting home in the afternoon to eat despite being sent to school with meals.

 

After a few weeks at Daniell’s however, the student would ask Principal Daniel to call their Mom to bring lunch as the child would eat all the food that was packed by break. The mother was so overcome she wanted to know what they were doing at the school to get her children to eat again and commended Daniell’s profusely.

 

The teenager turned their life around so much so, that they were presented with a special award at this year’s graduation ceremony and even read one of their poems which was performed flawlessly and with confidence once lacking. The student has since worked at the 2025 Summer Camp and received Grade 1s and 2s in the May/June 2025 CSEC Exams. They are now preparing to further their studies in England.

 

The Founder

I learnt that Zakiya has been a teacher for 25 years and a principal for 14 of those years. Of the schools she has taught, the impressive list includes her late father’s school: Daniell Educational Community, Holy Name Convent, Sixth Form Government/Polytechnic Institute, UWI-Roytec and Costaatt.

 

Her most rewarding moments arise when parents of reformed students or the children themselves come back to thank her for never giving up on them and creating a safe space and home for them at Daniell’s.

 

The young principal says it is really a rewarding feeling knowing that she is now teaching the children of her former students based on how she made them feel when she taught them either at Holy Name, UWI-Roytec, Costaatt or Daniell’s.

 

“Especially when it seems that all hope was lost and the child completely turned their life around, whether academically or behaviourally, is the most fulfilling thing for me. Some children go on to be the Valectorian of their class at the tertiary level and part of their speech always refers to Daniell’s impact on them” she says with a grateful heart.

 

Zakiya admits very plainly that she derives more satisfaction from being a teacher than a principal.

 

“There’s a level of peace and satisfaction you feel from being in the classroom that you can’t derive from any other part of this job. No matter how stressful my day was, when I step inside the classroom doing what I love – teaching Math – the best subject in the world, the level of joy and fulfillment I feel is enough to make all my troubles seem insignificant,” the founder concludes with a humble smile.