Born in Scotland in 1910, Rev. John Rae Gray first trained as a mining engineer before answering a very different calling. His journey took him from Scotland to Africa, then Jamaica, before finally bringing him to the Cayman Islands in 1949. Invited to serve as both minister for West Bay and headmaster of the newly established Cayman High School, Gray arrived at a time when secondary education on the islands was still in its infancy.
Building a school in post-war Cayman required ingenuity as much as determination. The first classrooms occupied former U.S. military buildings left behind after the Second World War. A Navy officers’ mess became the Preparatory School, part of an old bar served as a teacher’s desk, a radio shack was converted into classrooms, and a former dispensary became the school’s first science laboratory. A U.S. Navy bell called students to class, while the island’s very first school bus transported children from West Bay after local parents came together to purchase it.
For John Gray, education extended far beyond the classroom. He was a minister, mentor, footballer, actor, playwright, Sea Scout leader, Red Cross chairman and one of the founding members of Rotary in Cayman. He even drove the school bus when needed, reflecting the many roles community leaders often took on during a time when resources were limited but determination was abundant.
Many of the students who passed through his classrooms would go on to become teachers, business leaders and public servants, helping shape modern Cayman. Today, John Gray High School stands as a lasting reminder of a man who helped build not just a school, but the foundations of secondary education in the Cayman Islands.
Did You Know?
- Rev. John Rae Gray originally trained as a mining engineer before becoming a minister and educator
- He arrived in the Cayman Islands in 1949 to serve as both minister for West Bay and headmaster of the newly established Cayman High School
- The first classrooms used former U.S. military buildings left behind after the Second World War
- A U.S. Navy bell was used to call students to class