Donnica Dunkley has much to be excited about these days, because as an outstanding student, she is now well on her way to begin classes at a leading United States university this fall.

Dunkley, whose parents are both teachers in Grand Bahama, is the first local student to win her way into tertiary education after gaining the prestigious International Baccalaureate diploma.

She was one of five to graduate this summer from Lucaya International School's inaugural IB class. The school is one of only three offering the innovative course in the Bahamas – and there are only two others in the Caribbean basin.

Donnica is beginning her course at Wells College in New York State. It is a prestigious institution with very close links to Cornell University and its famed medical school. Her ambition is to become a doctor and return to The Bahamas to practice in the family islands.

She said this week while settling into her dorm: "I am really excited about starting my studies."

One other student, Francesca Mondesir, also obtained the prestigious IB diploma and is taking a hiatus before starting the rigours of university life.

The Chesapeake Drive school itself made history in the last few days when its B average in the BGCSE examinations, as announced by the Department of Education, was the highest of all schools in the country. The national average is a D+.

Sixty percent of the 200-plus students at LIS are Bahamian, and many of them are able to take advantage of the educational opportunity the school offers as a result of generous scholarships offered by the school.

They get a truly international education not only through the curriculum but by mixing with the other 18 nationalities represented in the staff and student body.

The school is the only one on Grand Bahama to offer a one-stop-shop school education with children at every grade from kindergarten to pre-university, which is the term the school uses for those in Grades 12 and 13, where the IB course of study is followed.

However, the vast majority of students at LIS take their BGCSE at the end of Year 11. Out of a total BGCSE entry of 106 subjects this year, the percentage of A to C grades was a remarkable 84 percent with 28 percent at A grade. The students at the school also performed particularly well in geography, mathematics and Spanish.

The LIS has grown significantly in the last two or three years as word has spread about the quality and variety of teaching it offers and in some grades demand exceeds supply. The school's administrators have been working on expansion plans on its campus to help deal with this issue.