Accra High School was founded by the late Rev. James Thomas Roberts on 17 August 1923.
The school, was located at beach avenue in Aayalolo, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. The school celebrated its first anniversary in August 1924 with a church service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Accra and the sermon was delivered by the Anglican Bishop of Accra, the late Dr. John Aglionby.
Thus, there was a tie between the school and the Church of England.
In 1924, the school entered its first candidates for the college of preceptors as well as for the Cambridge University, the royal society of Arts and Pitman’s Shorthand Examinations in the United Kingdom.
In 1926, most of the pupils sat and passed the junior Cambridge Examination. In that year, Mr. Frank Roberts, the eldest son of Rev. Roberts, joined the staff after graduating in Bachelor of Arts from the United Kingdom.
He worked hard to enhance the Academic and Disciplinary standard of the school in Accra. In 1927, the late J.O. Ansah Johnson became the first student to pass the Cambridge School Certificate Examination.
In 1931, members of staff and students performed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with tremendous success and this was followed in 1932 with further excellent performances.
Before the founding of Accra High School, the only Secondary Grammar School in Accra, the Accra grammar school, had closed down. However Rev. Roberts had massive support of some men of the highest intellectual and moral calibre.
Most of these scholars were Lawyers, Doctors, Civil servants and merchants who had their University education in the United Kingdom. Rev Roberts was ably assisted by Barristers J.A. Glover-Addo, Harry Riberio, E.O. Quist and G. Akilakpa Sawyer, Dr.E.V. Nanka-Bruce and Messrs J.A. Vanderpuye, John Backman, S.O. Akiwumi, A. J. Ocansey, J. P. Garshong and Charles Kojo Bruce.
So the school continued to excel and achieve successes in its educational effort.
1952 Accra High School was granted official recognition by the Government and became a Government Public School.
In the year (1952), Rev. Roberts retired at the age of 81. The mantle of headship then fell on Mr. W.S. Conton who ran the school from 1952 to 1956.
Mr. Conton was succeeded by Mr. P.O. Sanful, Snr. who ran the school from 1956 to 1966. It was during the headship of Mr. Sanful that Rev. Roberts, the founder and retired Headmaster, died on 5 September 1964, at the age of 94.
Accra High school grew from strength to strength and by 1964, the school had expanded from a two-stream to a three-stream school and the enrolment had doubled from 300 to 600 with a teaching staff of 27.
A 9 hectare plot of land had been acquired by Government of Ghana for a new Building at North Ridge near the West African Examinations Council and the German Embassy in Accra.
….. To be Continued…
