12th September, 1995 marked the birth of Dayspring Montessori International School, which was started in the backyard of Mr. Daniel Ofori, one of the Directors of the school. Thirteen pupils were enrolled in Nurseries one, two and three. The school was headed by Mrs. Constance Eli. There were three teachers and two attendants.
The school was started by ten shareholders, namely:
- Mr. Kwame Agyapon-Ntra
- Mr. Nana Ohene-Kankam
- Mr. Daniel Ofori
- Mr. David Eli
- Mr. Isaac Boakye-Boateng
- Mr. William Osei-Ofori
- Mr. Yaw Adu-Darkwah
- Mr. Abakomahene Kwabena Antwi
- Mrs. Selina Ametewee
- Ms. Orias Sosavi
In the course of time, Mrs. Selina Ametewee and Mr. William Osei-Ofori gave up their shares to Mr. Kwame Agyapon-Ntra and Mr. Nana Ohene-Kankam respectively. The school currently has eight shareholders.
The school grew fairly rapidly and in 1997, three classrooms were moved to a temporary classroom block in Mr. Kwame Agyapon-Ntra’s residence. September 1997 also marked the beginning of Kindergarten and five pupils were enrolled.
In September 1998, the school needed more space so a private house within the Dansoman community was bought and remodeled to accommodate the increasing population of pupils. In September 2003, the Junior High School of Dayspring Montessori International School came into being, with four pupils. Science and Computer Laboratories were set up and a crop of highly trained and qualified teachers were employed to augment the existing teaching staff. Mrs. Elizabeth De Souza became the new Headmistress following the resignation of Mrs. Constance Eli on 31st July 2003. Ms. Ladje Vondee became the first Assistant Headmistress of the school.
At the beginning of the 2004/2005 academic year, Dayspring had a new Headmistress in the person of Ms. Bertha Clottey; Mrs. De Souza having been appointed a District Director of Education by the government. A Music Laboratory came into being in 2005, and before long a vibrant school band and choir were born, under the able leadership of Mr. Michael Tsetse, the music teacher. Pupils of Dayspring won a national quiz programme dubbed ‘Bournvita Brain Match’ organized by Metro TV and Cadbury Ghana Ltd. in 2005.
Dayspring presented its first batch of pupils for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in April 2006, by which time there were nine pupils in the final year class. The results were excellent and all pupils had admission into top Senior High Schools in the country. Based on the BECE results, Dayspring Montessori International School was adjudged the 13th best out of 26,000 basic schools in the country, in a ceremony organised by the Ayekoo Excellence Foundation and the Ghana Education Service.
The second batch of pupils also had excellent results in the 2007 BECE, and the school was adjudged the 11th best Junior High School in a similar ceremony as the previous year.
At the end of the 2005/2006 academic year, Ms Bertha Clottey’s term of office with Dayspring came to an end. Mrs Exonam Aku Agyapon-Ntra came into office as the Principal of the school at the beginning of the 2006/2007 academic year.
In September 2013, the Junior High School section of the school moved onto the first floor of our ultra-modern four-storey Junior High School block. The school presented two teams to compete in a Robotics inspired Science Education (RiSE) Competition in September/October 2013. Dayspring placed 1st and 3rd, winning the gold and bronze awards.
In December 2016, the Vice Principal, Ms. Ladje Vondee resigned from the school. In February 2017, Mr. Harry Anamoo, a Social Studies teacher who had served in the school since 2004, was appointed the new Vice Principal.
In 2017 and 2018, some final year students participated in the National Core Subjects Quiz Competition and they won the ultimate prize in the two years. In November 2018, Dayspring Montessori International School emerged national champions of Robotics inspired Science Education (RiSE) awards organised by the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF), a non-governmental organisation. This national championship paved the way for the participation in the 2019 World ROBOFEST Championship in Southfield Michigan. Three Dayspring Robotics team members; Bright Andoh – Chief programmer, Prince Essiaw-Adu – Chief builder and Cecil Agyapong Agyemang were selected along with their coach, David Quarshie (an alumnus of Dayspring and a member of the 2013 Robotics Champions of the school) to join two members of another team (Cosmic Intellect) to represent Ghana in the Junior division of 2019 World ROBOFEST Championship in Southfield, Michigan. Out of 52 teams from around the world, Cosmic Intellect placed 6th. The team was accompanied to the US by the Principal of the school, Mrs. Exonam Aku Agyapon-Ntra. The trip was sponsored through fund raising efforts of the Principal and the Chairman of the School Board, Mr. Daniel Ofori. Sponsors included Toyota Gh., MTN Foundation, Oil Channel, Top Oil, UMB, GCB and friends.
At the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic year Dayspring included Introduction to Robotics in the curriculum for Kindergarten and Grade one pupils, courtesy Mint Innovations led by Mr. Ben Nortey. The aim was to get pupils to understand basic principles in electronics and whip up their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics very early in life. This was a huge success and pupils from Dayspring were featured in a CNN documentary, Inside Africa in January 2020.
POPULATION
The population of Dayspring has grown steadily over the years. In September 1995, when Dayspring came into being, there were only 13 pupils. As at May 2021, there are over 800 pupils in the school.