Ambitious Whitney Institute Middle School students had cause for celebration this week as eight students were commended for passing IGCSEs after sitting the exams two years early.The head start required extra work from teachers as well as the M3 students — not to mention support from parents, who had to pay for their children to take exams normally sat by senior school students.“As our inaugural pilot group, we’re very proud of them,” said Whitney principal Reeshemah Swan, of students Beatriz Aguiar, Jada Bean, D’ziah Coddington, Enaharo Holdipp, Sage Jackson, Yannick Matthews, Sacara Phillips and Chyna Young.“Normally students study for the IGCSE over two years. These students didn’t even have a full calendar year, and they took the exams two years behind their counterparts.”The school chose only the students they felt were ready to take the English and maths exams.Parents paid $81 per exam as the Government budget doesn’t cover early takers.Ms Swan, who put in extra hours as an English teacher along with maths teacher and head of M3 Tossha De Graff, said the initiative took “a lot of relationship-building and establishing trust with the parents and students.“We didn’t want to set anyone up for failure,” she said. “We explained to parents that we felt their children could do it. With the students, again, it was all about the paradigm shift: making them comfortable and showing them how they would benefit in the long run. We picked those we definitely felt could pass, and they proved us right.“Even the ones who weren’t selected to sit the exams still got to go through the curriculum early. When they go on to CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute, they will know those concepts early.”Convincing students to take on extra work wasn’t always easy, especially for those who felt daunted at the prospect.Added Ms Swan: “It was all about instilling in them that they could do it, of telling them as their principal that I knew they could do it. You can’t allow them to have an opportunity not to achieve.”As an English major, Ms Swan also had to go the extra mile to prepare students in that subject.“I remember thinking, Don’t ask me where I’ll get the time — but I had to step in,” she said.The M3 group sat their exams in May at the CedarBridge test centre, and got their grades this week.The announcement was celebrated at Whitney Institute with a drumroll as students were given their results.Beatriz, Chyna, Yannick and Sacara achieved a passing grade of C in English, while Sage, Enaharo and D’ziah earned a B in English.Jada Bean obtained passing grades of C, in both English and maths.