St. John's High School, Nagpur

St John's High School is a High School in the Mohan Nagar area of Nagpur. Established in 1880, it is one of the oldest schools in Nagpur. ^[1]

History

St. John’s High School was established by the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales towards the end of the 19th century in Nagpur city. It is difficult to trace the exact date on which this institution came into existence. St. John’s School, at the early stage, was managed by St. Francis de Sales School, which was established in 1867 to cater to the educational needs of the children of the Europeans and Anglo-Indians in and around Nagpur city. St. John’s came into existence as the Indian or native department of S.F.S School for the Indian Christian. The medium of instruction was Hindi.

The Indian/native department of S.F.S School admitted many Hindu and Muslim students besides many Indian Christians. As the number of students steadily increased, it grew into a separate institution. It was named as St. Francis Xavier’s school. At that stage it was under the management of S.F.S School and accommodated in the Nagpur Cathedral compound.

In 1893 Fr. Patric Wall msfs, who was in-charge of the Indian Christians, was also given the responsibility of managing the St. Francis Xavier’s School. During his time the school was renamed as R. C. Mission school and it was shifted to a newly constructed building in the Cathedral compound. Fr. Patric Wall succeeded in getting the school affiliated to the Calcutta University.

In 1912 Fr. John D’Costa msfs was appointed as Principal of R. C. Mission School. During the time of Fr. John, the R. C Mission School made steady progress in the number of students. It also made remarkable progress in academic filed as well in sports and games. Since it was difficult for the R. C. Mission school to continue in the Cathedral compound for want of space, Fr. John decided to shift the school to a more spacious place at Mohan Nagar. The school was renamed as St. John’s High School and was shifted in 1929 to the new building at Mohan Nagar. At first the Middle School classes and later the Primary and the High School sections ware shifted to the new campus. The first batch of 39 students appeared for SSC in 1916.

“In 1951 according to an agreement signed between Very Rev. Fr. A. Grorod msfs, Superior General of the MSFS, and Bishop Gayet msfs of Nagpur, St. John’s high School was handed over to the MSFS, who made it their mother house” (cf. Fr. Francis Moget msfs, Shepherds for Christ, p. 111). The school at present has a strength of 2950 boys and 93 members on the staff. Instruction is given in Hindi and English from pre-primary to Class Ten. Fr. A.G. Lobo along with Br. Herold began the work of the first floor of the school building in February 1952, adding seven more classrooms, “The front tower was built in 1953, surmounted by a cement cross in February 1954 and adorned in May 1954 with a tower-clock, which was brought from France.

The motto of the school is ‘Aim high’, which is not only a cliché but also a verbal expression of a way of life in the institution. Students are always encouraged and guided by the teachers to do better and better and to be better and better. The school endeavors in developing an integrated personality in the students by inculcating in them moral, spiritual, social and human values.

There were a few eminent teachers on the staff of St. John’s Mr. S.B. Shastry, who won the Best Teacher State Award in 1969 and Mr. H.G. Chourse, winner of the best Teacher National Award in 1981-82.

The school was declared as a Heritage Building for the city of Nagpur on 16.2.2000, because of its peculiar architectural design.

Holy Cross Sisters in St. John’s

From the “Family Annals” of the Holy Cross Sister of Chavanod it is traceable that the Sisters began their association with St. John’s School in the year 1953. Sisters’ association with St. John’s school began with a formal request made by the then Superior of St. John’s to the Provincial Superior of the Sisters who gladly sent a team of three sisters. They were Sr. Vitalis D’Souza, Sr. Angela Lobo and Sr. Mercia Alvares who took up teaching in the pre-primary and primary sections of St. John’s school. Since then the sisters continue to render their valuable services in St. John’s till today.

Since there was no convent of their own the sisters had a lot of difficulties in finding a proper accommodation. Initially, form 1953-57, they stayed at Victoria Building which was on rent. From 1957, the sister stayed at a hostel on Mount Road extension which was opened by the sisters for the working women. In 1971 they began staying at St. John’s. From June 1990 the Sister continue their association with St. John’s while residing at S.F.S.

We the St. Johnits salute the Holy Cross Sisters for their valuable and continued association with the school. At the earlier years the St. John’s was privileged to receive the services of many sisters in pre-primary and primary. Since 1990 a single sister looks after the administration of pre-primary and primary. We thank them whole heartedly for their selfless service and look forward for their continued association with St. John’s School.

New venture

The existing primary building is situated at the south of the main school building; being old and dilapidated, the management had been toiling with the idea of constructing a new building for the pre-primary and primary sections of St. John’s school for quite some time. A serious thought of constructing a new building for the primary section of the school was given during the time of Fr. V.D. Joseph, who was its principal (1994–96). On 28 March 1995, thought to be the auspicious occasion to venture into such an ambitious plan, at 11.00 a.m. on 28 March 1995 in the presence of a large number of people (mostly staff and students) Fr. Agnelo Fernandes, provincial of Nagpur province, blessed the foundation stone and it was laid by the chief guest, Rajesh Tambay, Mayor of Nagpur and the guest of honour Sunil Argarwal, the Deputy Mayor. Others who were present at the function were Fr. Joseph Plattotham, the Manager of St. John’s and Sr. Lucy Mathew, the head mistress of primary section.

Though the construction began in all earnestness it could not go further than laying the foundation and raising the columns for the ground floor. It remained in that stage for a few years until the construction work began again during 2000 during the time of Fr. K.V. Joseph as its principal. Now the main building the primary school is almost ready with 23 class rooms and the offices. Part of the plan of a multipurpose hall for the primary section remains unattended right now. A lot of works remains to be done before it is found fit to shift to the new premises which is situated on the north of the existing high school building. The management remains ever grateful to all the benefactors whose generosity enabled the management in doing what it has done so far and look forward for their continuous support to accomplish the primary project.

St. Johns School has been in existence since 1880. During the period of 123 years of existence, the institution has built up a unique tradition of imparting all around education to the ordinary and under privileged children in and around Nagpur. Numerous ex-students of this institution are well established in life in India and abroad. They give the credit of their success to their alma mater which simply affirm the truth stated above. May this institution be blessed with staff-men and women faithful to the tradition and spirit, continue to bring light in the lives of many by litting the light of knowledge and wisdom.^[2]

The school has instituted Sanjana - Shastri award for academic excellence in High School in honor of two of the famous school teachers and Premnath Award for excellent performance in dramatics which is named after the film actor Premnath who was an ex-student of the school.

References

1. |url=http://www.fransalians.com/fi9-stjohns.htm |date=20081120014222 :: Bloom where you are planted :: Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales Archive copy at the Wayback Machine