Joseph Williams, the outgoing principal of St James High School, was on Wednesday hailed for his transformative leadership, which helped move the institution from a low-performing school to one now highly regarded for discipline and academic excellence.

Williams, who will proceed on pre-retirement leave at the end of the school year after serving the institution for 22 years, was presented with 22 roses, along with other tokens and gifts, during the school's 2026 graduation ceremony at the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Montego Bay.

In his charge to the graduating class of 2026, comprising 170 students, Williams, affectionately referred to as ‘Father Joe’, urged them to carry the high standards of academic excellence they developed at the school into the next phase of their lives.