New St. John School Finally Approved

Here is a great story for St. John and the territory today from The Source:

May 28, 2008 -- Drawing on unprecedented intra-governmental cooperation, Gov. John deJongh Jr. and U.S. Sen. John "Jay" Rockefeller IV announced plans Wednesday for a new school on St. John, which will end decades of ferry rides for the island's students.

"It is the right thing to do," Rockefeller said. "Maintaining the status quo was the wrong thing to do."

Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who received the territory's Alexander Hamilton Award in February, said he lent his support to the initiative when he learned that St. John children had to take the ferry to go to Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas.

When the governor contacted Rockefeller about the issue, deJongh said, the senator's immediate response was "How can I help?" Rockefeller's family donated the land that launched the national park on St. John in the 1950s.