St. Stanislaus High School

Infobox School2
name = St. Stanislaus School


motto = "Immaculata"
established = 1863
type = Private Secondary School
grades = 1 - 10
head_name = Principal
head = Fr. Jude
head_name2 =
head2 =
city = Mumbai
state = Maharashtra
country = India
students =
faculty =
teaching_staff =
athletics =
school_colors =
school_colours =
mascot =
free_label = Houses
free =Kostka (Green), Britto (Red), Loyola (Yellow), Xavier (Blue)
website =

St. Stanislaus High School is an all-boys school located in the Bombay suburb of Bandra run by the Society of Jesus. Its motto is "Natus Ad Majora" (in English, "Born For Greater Things").

The school, founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, started as an orphanage and later grew to be a full-fledged educational institution for day-scholars as well as boarders. What started out as a school for 40-odd orphans has now grown to support 2,300 students.

Motto

Natus ad majora (Born for greater things)

History

After a series of protracted negotiations spread over a period of more than four decades and necessitated by conditions prevalent at the time among various conflicting elements, the then Vicar Apostolic of Bombay, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Anastasius Hartmann, acquired by purchase a plot of land and proceeded to raise on it, not exactly a church, but a two-storeyed building, the ground floor of which was to be used as a church.

The blessing of the foundation stone was done by Bishop Hartmann himself on the 12th April 1852. On 11th September 1853, the Church of St. Peter was consecrated by the same Dr. Hartmann and thus the first Propaganda Chapel of Salsette Island was inaugurated. Fr. Pascoal de Mello, a secular priest and native of Bandra, was appointed the first Vicar of the Church and was succeeded in 1856 by Fr. Anthony Pereira S.J., a native of Goa.

The upper floor of the building was at first used as the priest's residence and a parish school, bearing the name of St. Aloysius. In 1855, the Seminary, which in 1853 had been transferred to Surat, was brought down to Bandra and lodged in this upper floor. As a result of this, the Seminary and the parish school were fused into one. The amalgamated institution is described in the Madras Directory of 1857, as follows: "There is a Seminary and College, under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. The Marathi, Portuguese, English and Latin languages are taught; also Arithmetic, Geography, History and Music, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Theology (Dogmatic and Moral) and Canon Law. The students are about 85 including 15 seminarists."

The Orphanage of the Bombay Archdiocese (European and native combined) had its beginnings in 1852, when Bishop Hartmann was Vicar Apostolic. It was first located at Parel under the care of some Carmelite Fathers. In 1855 the Capuchins succeeded the Carmelites at Parel and in 1857 the Orphanage was transferred to Nesbit Lane, Byculla. On the 25th November 1857, Fr. Joseph Willy, S.J., was appointed its Superior. But on 13th August 1859, a separation took place. The European orphans were sent to Mazagon; the Indian orphans remained at Byculla, whence they went every day to school at Mazagon. Fr. Willy remained behind with the native orphans as their Superior and Chaplain of St. Anne's. In October 1859, Fr. Willy was sent to Karachi and Fr. Esseiva was appointed to fill the gap until Fr. Joseph Weber took charge of the Orphanage in February 1860. During the three years of his stewardship, the number of native orphans rose from 33 to 140. About the end of May 1863, the Seminary was transferred from Bandra to Cavel and its place was occupied by the Boy's Native Orphanage which was shifted from Byculla on the 8th June 1863. Such was the beginning of St. Stanislau's Orphanage in Bandra. When the boys from Byculla arrived at Bandra, there was only one solitary house to welcome them the old St. Peter's Church, a large square building, partly two-storeyed, half church, half residence. Above the Chapel was a hall 100 x 75 feet used as study hall, refectory and class rooms with a couple of residential rooms for the Fathers; above this, directly under the roof, was the dormitory. Prior to the arrival of the orphans there was already a parish school, as we have seen, which had been started in 1852 and was merged with the Seminary that was transferred back from Surat. This school continued to function as a kind of Apostolic School for youngsters, after the senior students had moved to Cavel in May 1863. The boys of St. Aloysius and the orphans from Byculla who formed the nucleus of St. Stanislaus were now taught together. In 1868 the parish school was amalgamated and absorbed into St. Stanislaus School and Orphanage.

Development during the first 50 years

At various times down to 1855 new plots were added to the original grounds and new buildings were erected. In 1867 a second storey was added to the old building. About the same time the Industrial workshop was erected. In 1873 an outlying wing was added for use as the Boy's Refectory and Infirmary. In 1888 a separate kitchen was built. In 1904 the back wing or Red Building parallel to a part of Waroda Road, was erected to provide class-rooms and a dormitory for paying boarders. In 1913 the de Mello House, facing Waroda Road was purchased and converted into an Infirmary. At the same time the Bombilwadi plot was bought in order to extend the playing ground eastwards.

As regards educational development the School was at first only Primary; but with the arrival of the Orphans it expanded to the IV Standard. By degrees it became permanently a Middle School. The total number of pupils (orphans, boarders and day-scholars) in 1913 was about 600. The name of the Orphanage was changed into that of St. Stanislaus Institution on the 2nd March 1887

ports

In addition to academic work, the school encourages the development of young athletes and sportsmen. These activities received continuous support from the staff. Teachers like [http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Springs/9642 Master Neeff] , Master Oliver, Master Willy, Master Donald and sportsmasters include Oliver Andrade (who founded the famous Joggers Park in Bandra Mumbai),Master Cyril Gabriel, Fr. Harry Pereira S.J., Fr. Benjamin Fernandes S.J.& Fr. Robin Selwyn S.J. in the 70s & 80s have been noted for supporting this endeavour. This has produced quality teams in field hockey, football and athletics. Through the efforts of Fr. Lawrie Ferrao, the former principal, the Gymnasium has been upgraded with a tread mill and other facilities. The Donnelly gym has been completely redone with new turf and sprinklers added.

In terms of open playground and sports facilities, the school has one of the largest facilities in Mumbai. Different principals had different views on sports at Stanislaus. Consequently in the late 80's while academics did not become strong, sports was not neglected.

The school has played and won various inter-school tournaments, participating in the Ahmed Sailor Cup in field hockey. The school has a grass hockey ground (Donnelly Gym), 2 basketball courts, 2 football grounds, 2 smaller grounds, a swimming pool and a gymnasium. The hockey ground is used to play various state level tournaments.

NEW FACILITIESThe old carpentry room next to the Donnely gym has been renovated and part of it has been made into a changing room. The old toilets are undergoing extensive repairs. The grounds facing Wardoda road has been revamped and now has a tiled flooring. It now serves as a ground for weddings and functions. It's also called "The Backyard Lawn".

chool Houses

The school consists of 4 "houses": Britto, Loyola, Xavier and Kostka named after 4 Jesuit saints (St. John De Britto, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and St. Stanislaus Kostka). The colours for these houses are: Red for Britto, Yellow for Loyola, Blue for Xavier and Green for Kostka. New students move into these houses and points are awarded to various students for various activities and the winning house is announced each week. There are elected house captains for each year.

Alumni

The St. Stanislaus Ex-students Association was first started by Fr. Joseph Casasayas SJ in 1936. It is a not-for-profit organization aimed at assisting alumni (ex-students and ex-staff members) to network and to support and drive activities that can help the school grow qualitatively. The mission of the association is to create an environment that encourages Stanislites to live the motto of the school in all walks of life.

Notable alumni include the following:
* [http://www.stanislites.org/node/284 Major General Eustace D’Souza PVSM]
* [http://www.stanislites.org/node/284 Lieutenant General Francis Dias PVSM, AVSM, VrC]
* Dr. Carmo D'Cruz (1975) 74 per cent in SSC (Old), IIT Electrical Engineer, ASEE Professor of the Year 2008 and Bombay Jr. Nationals (1975) and TeamUSA 2008 Field Hockey Goal Keeper
* Marcellus Gomes, Indian Hockey team forward
* Francis D'Mello, India's First and Only School-boy Hockey World-Cupper 1971
* Viren Rasquinha, Indian hockey team defender
* Salman Khan
* Shaan
* Khalid Rafi, Son of the legendary singer, Mohd. Rafi
* Ryan Charles Rebello, Recording Artist Canada
* Cardinal Ivan Dias
* Bro. Jason Vaz, Society Of Jesuits, Jamacia, Toronto, Mumbai, And Still Travelling
* Anthony De Mello (priest)

Threatened Structure

As of November 2006, the school is under threat of demolition by the BMC which plans to widen Hill road and give the space to hawkers. This is being vigorously opposed by ex-students, Bandra residents and others.St. Stanislaus received a notice from the ward officer, Bandra west of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to hand over a large part of the school properties in the guise of road widening. The school would lose the Donnelly Gym (the grass lawns), and the mud ground (back ground) along with the YSS center (old KG CLASS). St. Peter's Church would lose the graves and grotto.

After repeated requests and protest, the BMC has decided not to touch the church wall and school wall.

Other information

*Fr Lawrie Ferrao S.J. was the principal of the School up to the end of the academic year 2006-2007. He has served the school since 1996.
*Fr. Jude Fernandes S.J. has taken over as the new Principal from the 2007 academic year. He was previously the Parish Priest of Holy Family Church, Chakala, Andheri East and the Vice Principal of Holy Family School.
*Fr. Edmund Carrasco. was the principal of the School up to the end of the academic year 1996.

External links

* [http://www.stanislausbandra.in/ St. Stanislaus High School Official Website]
* [http://www.stpetersbandra.com/ St. Peter's Church] : Roman Catholic church is situated just inside the entrance of the school.
* [http://www.stanislites.org/ St. Stanislaus Ex-students Association]