Little Trotters Farm & Nursery School has been sold to Joanna Boxall, the owner and founder of Acorn Media, whose titles include Cayman Resident, Cayman Parent, Good Taste and Explore Cayman.
Joanna Boxall has purchased Little Trotters Farm & Nursery School.
Born in the Cayman Islands and now the mother of 2 school-age children, Boxall purchased Little Trotters from Josie Duran, who established the school in 2004. The ownership transfer became official Monday, 1 Feb.
Out of 53 schools in the Cayman Islands, Little Trotters was the only one to achieve the highest rating of ‘Excellent’ from the Office of Education Standards during the first cycle of school inspections from 2018-2020.
(Read our interview with Duran and school manager Lesley Maddock here.)
Boxall holds a degree in Human Environmental Science from Kings College, London University. Her interest in Cayman education deepened over the years as she researched the subject for her magazines’ sections on public and private schools.
She said in a letter sent to parents last week, “Gradually, and almost like osmosis, I have absorbed all I can about Education in Cayman over the last 16 years. Then when Little Trotters was awarded the only ‘excellent’ rating I raced down to interview Miss Josie as it seemed so obvious to me that if I wrote up about how and why it was considered ‘excellent’ we could teach parents, teachers and owners of other schools.”
She said, “So, over the years it has become obvious where my passion lies and it is in field of education, but it wasn’t clear how to take that forward. Every step of the way I have been learning, reading, wanting to know more, trying to share (through Cayman Resident and Cayman Parent) what I have learnt.”
“Then came the phone call from Josie and her question as to whether I might like to buy Little Trotters. I have to tell you that from the moment I said yes, every door has flown open, the path has been made straight and it feels like I cannot run fast enough to keep up with what is unfolding before me.”
Boxall will be very involved in the operations of Little Trotters as Director and Owner, while maintaining her duties at Acorn, which she runs with husband Charles Grover.
She told the Current that she will step into Duran’s former role at Little Trotters, with her main responsibilities including conducting all parent tours, holding the regular teacher feedback meetings and generally being the face of the school.