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St. Xavier's High School, Fort

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Coordinates: 18°56′39″N 72°49′49″E / 18.94417°N 72.83028°E / 18.94417; 72.83028
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St. Xavier's High School
St. Xavier's High School Mumbai in 1908.
Architect: Fr. Karl Wagner, S.J., from Mainz, Germany.
Address
Map
Fort

Mumbai
,
Maharashtra

India
Coordinates18°56′39″N 72°49′49″E / 18.94417°N 72.83028°E / 18.94417; 72.83028
Information
TypePrivate primary and secondary school
MottoLatin: Duc in Altum
(Launch out into the deep)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
DenominationJesuits
Patron saint(s)Francis Xavier, SJ
Established1869; 155 years ago (1869)
AuthorityDepartment of Education, Maharashtra
DirectorFr. Francis Swamy, SJ
PrincipalThresia Sini [1]
GradesK-10
GenderBoys
Enrollmentc. 2000
LanguageEnglish medium
Websitestxaviersfort.org

St. Xavier's High School, Fort, is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys located in Fort, Mumbai, India. The English medium school was founded in 1869 and is run by the Society of Jesus.

History

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First century

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The school was built when the Bombay port took on new importance as the "Gateway to India", in the same year as the Suez Canal was built, 1869. At that time it incorporated primary students from the Jesuit St. Mary's on Cavel Street that had been opened in 1860. By 1870 there were eight years of school and a seminary on the premises, with boarding facilities for the St. Mary's boys and seminarians. The 512 students came from diverse religious backgrounds: 337 Catholic, 98 Hindus, 45 Parsis, 20 other Christians, ten Muslims, and two Jews. The top floor became the Jesuit residence, then housing sixteen Jesuits.

Music was taught from 1873 – singing, the harmonium, piano, flute, and violin. A band followed in 1878. Cricket was played at the school since 1874 and football from 1896. German fathers founded and ran the school, but during World War I they were sent to concentration camps[citation needed]; Jesuits from Tarragona Spain and some from Switzerland filled in for them. In 1936, five graduates were in the top twenty among 7,014 successful candidates who passed the Matriculation Examination. In 1940 the East Wing was completed to accommodate the upper standards, including a hall with a capacity for 700. In 1948 a night school was opened with members of the Catholic Young Men's Sodality as staff; it soon had an enrollment of 200 for courses like fitting and mechanics.[2]

Memorabilia

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St. Xavier's occupies the neo-Gothic building it had from its foundation by the Jesuits in 1869. Fragments of its history are visible in the corridors of the primary section in the form of stuffed hunted animals shot by priests during the British Raj. Notable among these is the butterfly and bird collection on the first floor and the stuffed tiger on the third floor. The tiger was donated by the Maharaja of Vanzra, Gujarat, who attended St. Xavier's. The butterfly and bird collection is the work of Brother Navarro, a Spanish Jesuit and a naturalist who was associated with the school. At one corner of the primary quadrangle is a section of a ship's propeller which landed there at the time of the Bombay Harbour Explosion of 1944. St. Xavier's High School is approaching its 150th jubilee.[3]

Education

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St. Xavier's follows the SSC board which is the state board of the Government of Maharashtra. It runs classes from standard one to standard ten. The primary (standard one to four) and secondary school occupy different buildings. A class has four sections (A to D) with about fifty students per section.

All students of the secondary school belong to one of four houses - Claver (blue), Gonzaga (yellow), Britto (red), Berchmans (green). These were earlier known as Ashoka (blue), Tilak (yellow), Nehru (red), and Tagore (green).[4] Each house has an elected House Captain from standard ten and a Vice-Captain from standard nine. Additionally, a School Captain and Vice-Captain are elected from standard ten. There is a sports captain and a sports vice captain also. These student representatives maintain student discipline and lead student and ceremonial activities.[5]

Principals

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The following individuals have served as principal of the school:[6]

Ordinal Officeholder Term start Term end Time in office
1 Fr. Joseph Willy, SJ 1869 1870 0–1 years
2 Fr. Anselm Lester, SJ 1870 1873 2–3 years
3 Fr. Henry Depelchin, SJ 1873 1876 2–3 years
4 Fr. Edward De Vos, SJ 1876 1879 2–3 years
5 Fr. Theo Dalhoff, SJ 1879 1884 4–5 years
6 Fr. Julius Mayr, SJ 1884 1890 5–6 years
7 Fr. John Stein, SJ 1891 1897 5–6 years
8 Fr. H. Jurgens, SJ 1897 1900 2–3 years
9 Fr. Jos Hoene, SJ 1900 1902 1–2 years
10 Fr. W. M. Shapter, SJ 1902 1905 2–3 years
11 Fr. Henry Boese, SJ 1905 1908 2–3 years
12 Fr. Jac. Weingartner, SJ 1908 1914 5–6 years
13 Fr. Max Rieke, SJ 1914 1915 0–1 years
14 Fr. Max Riklin, SJ 1915 1923 7–8 years
15 Fr. Anice Deniz, SJ 1923 1930 6–7 years
16 Fr. Florencio Zurbitu, SJ 1930 1930 0 years
17 Fr. Aniceto Deniz, SJ 1931 1936 4–5 years
18 Fr. Aloysius Coyne, SJ 1936 1939 2–3 years
19 Fr. Angelus Solagran, SJ 1939 1945 5–6 years
20 Fr. Sebastian Bonet, SJ 1945 1951 5–6 years
21 Fr. Francis Ribot, SJ 1951 1952 0–1 years
22 Fr. Angelus Solagran, SJ 1952 1955 2–3 years
23 Fr. Richard Pereira, SJ 1955 1957 1–2 years
24 Fr. Fredrick Britto, SJ 1957 1960 2–3 years
25 Fr. Hilary Miranda, SJ 1960 1969 8–9 years
26 Fr. Lancelot Rodricks, SJ 1969 1977 7–8 years
27 Fr. Benjamin Fernandes, SJ 1977 1979 1–2 years
28 Fr. Edmund Caracco, SJ 1979 1986 6–7 years
29 Fr. Joaquim Mascarenhas, SJ 1986 1993 6–7 years
30 Fr. Herman Castelino, SJ 1993 1999 5–6 years
31 Mr. Manuel Raphael, SJ 1999 2000 0–1 years
32 Fr. Baptist Pinto, SJ 2000 2010 9–10 years
33 Jennifer Dias 2010 2018 7–8 years
34 Sharmila Sunny 2018 incumbent 5–6 years

Notable alumni

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Principal's message | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  2. ^ "History". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Home page". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  4. ^ "House System". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Student Cabinet". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Past principals". St. Xavier's High School, Fort. 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Alumni | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Vibhute, Kranti (6 January 2018). "150 years of glory: St Xavier's celebrates with alumni today". DNA India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  9. ^ Fern, Joaquim; Jun 17, es / Updated (17 June 2015). "The 'Moidekar' who hoped to save Goa | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "St Xavier's School Mumbai Go Solar". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  11. ^ Khurana, Suanshu (9 May 2017). "Ustad Rais Khan (1939-2017): The Man Who Made the Sitar Sing". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Top banker Deepak Parekh of HDFC says he barely passed in school". The Financial Express. 8 January 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Notable alumni". official website. St. Xavier's High School, Fort. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008.
  14. ^ "Alma mater to honour late scientist with 'Xavier Ratna'". dna India. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  15. ^ Anand, Utkarsh; Ratnam, Damini (30 April 2021). "Adieu Soli Sorabjee, jurist, legal luminary, and jazz aficionado". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  16. ^ Gandhi, Parinaz M. (7 January 2006). "Theater's Sunshine Boy". Parsiana.
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