Montserrat island "Santa María de Montserrate", after the Virgin of Montserrat in the Monastery of Montserrat, on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. "Montserrat" means "serrated mountain" in Catalan. Archaeological field work in 2012, in Montserrat's Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic (pre-Arawak) occupation between 4000 and 2500 BP. Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture. In November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs. A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1632. The preponderance of Irish in the
Education in Montserrat opened in 2003. The only secondary school (pre-16 years of age) on the island is the Montserrat Secondary School (MSS), a government-operated school in Salem. Montserrat Community College (MCC) is a community college (post-16 and tertiary) in Salem. MCC took over sixth-form college from MSS upon its opening in 2004. The University of the West Indies maintains its Montserrat Open Campus. The University of Science, Arts and Technology in Olveston, a private tertiary institution, was established in 2003 and is accredited by Montserrat's Ministry of Education. In the pre-1997 era, Montserrat had state, private, and church schools. In 1989 the