St. Luke's Senior Secondary School
St. Luke's Sen Sec School is a Christian Minority Institution, owned and run by the Shimla-Chandigarh Educational Society, a registered body, which has its headquarters in Chandigarh. It is located on the Mall Road, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India.
The school was founded in 1958 and is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi since 1962. The school is an English Medium, Co-Educational day school. The motto of the school is "Gaudium In Veritate" which means "Joy In Truth". St. Luke's is about an hour drive from Shimla and two hours from Chandigarh. The nearest railway station is Solan. The alumni of St. Luke's are known as Ex-Lukites. St. Luke's is believed to be the oldest school of Solan. The school admits students from K.G. to XII. The session starts from Mid February and ends in December.
History
The passion for providing quality education paved the way for the establishment of St. Luke's. The school had its beginning with only 8 students in 1955 in Subathu, a cantonment area. It was named as Ephiphany School with Rev. Father Christanand as its founder. In 1957, the school was shifted to Solan and housed in a rented building known as Badru-Khan House. St. Luke's is named after one of the Gospel writers St. Luke. In 1962 the school was granted permanent recognition due to the strenuous efforts of Rev. Fr. Emmanuel, who rendered his services to the school till 1973. After Fr. Emmanuel left, Fr. Persy took over as Manager cum Principal for a short duration. Fr. S.J.F. More joined as Manager cum Principal. Fr. More with his vast and solid experience of working in many reputed schools planned a spacious school building. However the project could not be materialized due to some financial constraints. Fr. More left for Bhopal in 1979. In 1980, the vacuum left by Fr. More was temporarily filled by Dr. Fr. M.M. Mascarenhas who was called from Pune. He left St. Luke's in 1981. At that time Mr. Darry Micheal who was the headmaster of the school took over as the Principal and Fr. C.J. Alvares from Mangalore took over the charge as Manager of the school. It was under the able guidance of Fr. Alvares and unstinting work of Mr. Micheal that the new school building was blessed by Rt. Rev. Dr. G.B. Rego on 14 June 1986. Since then there was no looking behind. It was in 1992 that the Bishop of Simla Chandigarh Diocese invited the Bethany Sisters to run the school after Mrs. Agatha Thomas who was the principal left the school. Sister Marceline with 3 other sisters took over the charge as Principal. Sr. Wilberta who took over the charge from Sr. Marceline worked tirelessly to upgrade the school to +2 level. She was the master mind to make St. Luke's the Accredited Center for Open School.
The school had a humble beginning with only 8 students, but with passage of time, it made rapid strides and the present strength is more than 2000 students on roll. The rise in strength brought the need for more accommodation. Hence a separate building for Primary students was inaugurated by Rt. Rev. Dr. Gerald John Mathias. In 1997 the school was upgraded to +2 level. At present, the school has a spacious and well furnished building with sprawling lawns and play grounds.
School Organisation
Principals and Managers
The current Principal of the school is Sr Isabella Agnes and the Manager is Father Stephens.
Managers
- Late Rev. Fr. C.J. Alvares (1979-1999)
- Rev. Fr. John Bosco (1999-2005)
- Rev. Fr. Amrit Lal (2005-2011)
- Rev. Fr. Biju (2011-2014)
- Rev. Fr. Stephens (2014 onwards)
Principals
- Late Rev. Fr. Emmanuel (1958-1973)
- Mr. Darry Micheal (1979-1989)
- Mrs. Agatha Thomas (1989-1992)
- Sr. Marceline B.S. (1992-1995)
- Sr. Wilberta B.S. (1995-1997)
- Sr. Ophilia B.S. (1997-1999)
- Sr. Grace Maria B.S. (1999-2002)
- Sr. Helen D' Costa B.S. (2002-2009)
- Sr. Alvina B.S. (2009-2011)
- Sr. Grace Maria B.S. (2011) (Officiating Principal)
- Sr. Tara B.S. (2011−2015)
- Sr. Isabella Agnes (2015 Onwards)
Buildings and Grounds
The school has 2 main buildings the Senior Block and the Blooming Buds Block (Junior Wing). The school has excellent infrastructure for games and sports. It has a well equipped Library, Science and Computer Laboratories. There are 3 main Grounds- The Assembly Yard, The Middle Ground and the Main Ground.
House System
There are four houses which are named after great personalities.
- Ashoka House
- Gandhi House
- Nehru House
- Tagore House
House Council Members
Students are provided opportunity to be a part of the School Cabinet which acts like a bridge between the School Administration and the students. Every year the House Council Members are elected through a thorough analysis of the students academic record, personality and other values. An Interview is also conducted to select the best students among those who have applied for the various posts.
List of Cabinet Posts
Core Cabinet:
- School Prefects - Selected from Class XII
- Discipline Captains - Selected from Class XI
- School Captains - Selected from Class X
- Activity Captains - Selected from Class X
- Sports Captains - Selected from Class X
- House Captains (Two from each house) - Selected from Class X
Beside the Core Cabinet the school selects Cabinet Members from Blooming Buds too. Also there are Assistant Cabinets which are selected from Classes VIII and IX.
Events and Activities
Sports and Extra curricular Activities
The school believes in overall development of the students and thus along with academic result it focuses on Sports and ECAs too. There are various sports played in the school namely, Cricket, Football, Table Tennis, Badminton, Kho Kho, BasketBall and other athletic games. The school also organizes various Tournaments and Events to encourage competition in the field of sports.
Also to promote ECAs the school organizes various Inter-House Activities every week Various Exhibitions are also organised specially on the days of Parent Teachers Meet. To make the students aware of the degrading environment the school has encouraged participation in activities like keeping the environment clean, plantation programmes, rallies etc.
List of Tournaments and Competitions Organised
- Lukite Inter-School Basket Ball Tournament
- Lukite Cup (Cricket)
- Lukite Cup (Football)
- Various Inter House Competitions-Debating Competition, Singing Competition, Dancing Competition, Flower Arrangement Competition, Cooking Competition, Quiz Competition etc.
The School Basketball Team has participated and won at the CBSE Clusters and the State Level every year since 2011 and went to Nationals in the year 2014. Also, the Cricket and Football Team has brought many laurels to the school.
Cultural Events
The school celebrates almost every festival and occasion. The celebrations include performances by the students like Skits, Songs, Dances, Speeches, etc.
List of Major Functions Organised
- Girl Child Day
- May Day
- Himachal Pradesh Day
- World Environment Day
- Independence Day
- School Founder's Day
- Award Ceremony- The most prestigious function which is organised every year in the month of October/November
- Annual Function- The annual function is held after every two years.
- Athletic Meet
- Teachers' Day
- Children's Day
- Investiture Ceremony
- Farewell
- Christmas
Clubs and Societies
The students are given an opportunity to develop their hobbies and skills by forming various clubs and societies. Every week special activities are organised in each club and skills of students are developed. Various clubs and societies are The Knitting Club, The Eco Club, The Mechanical and Electrical Club, The Literary Society, The Dance Society, The Music Society, The Cooking Club, The Photography Society, The Drama Society.
Vocational Center and Open School
In addition to the educational apostolate the school has also an extension programme for the less privileged women. Sister Zeena the pioneering member assisted by Sr. Wilberta worked very hard to start the St. Luke's Vocational Center.
Besides all this the school is also a study center for Open Schooling for the drop out students from all over the places.
Captain Sanjay Chauhan Memorial Award
The Captain Sanjay Chauhan Memorial Award for the All Rounder in School is donated by Captain Sanjay Chauhan Foundation in the memory of Captain Sanjay Chauhan (Shaurya Chakra Vijayeta) and is awarded to a Class XII Student who outperforms the others across all the aspects like Academic performance, Sports, Personality, Character, Social Work, Leadership and Responsibility. This award is considered as the Most Prestigious Award of the School.
Content Contributed by
Pulkit Malhotra, School Prefect (2014 Batch)
Coordinates: 30°54′49″N 77°06′24″E / 30.9137°N 77.1068°E