St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata

St. Lawrence High School
St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata, in 2017
Address
27 Pramathesh Barua Sarani (formerly Ballygunge Circular Road) Kolkata-700019 , West Bengal India
Coordinates	22°31′43.39″N88°21′20.88″E / 22.5287194°N 88.3558000°E / 22.5287194; 88.3558000
Information
Former name	St. John Chrysostom School
Type	Private primary and secondary school
Motto	For God and Country
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholicism
Denomination	Jesuits
Patron saint(s)	Lawrence of Rome
Established	January 1937;87 years ago (1937-01)
Founder	Fr. Lawrence Rodrigues, S.J.
School board	ICSE & WBCHSE
School district	Kolkata
Rector	Fr. Julian S Das, S.J.
Principal	Fr. M Benny Thomas S.J.
Teaching staff	84
Grades	1-12
Gender	Boys
Enrollment	1600+
Language	English
Hours in school day	5:50
Campus	7 acres (2.8 ha)
Houses	Loyola    Xavier    Kalam (formerly Britto)    Tagore (formerly Aloysius)
Athletics	Football, cricket, basketball
Nickname	Lawrencians
National ranking	19
Yearbook	The Lawrencian
Affiliations	Indian Council of Secondary Education West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education
Website	stlawrencehighschool.edu.in

St. Lawrence High School is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The school was founded in 1810 and run by the Jesuits, initially in Baithakhana, Sealdah, as an elementary school which came to be known as St. John Chrysostom School. It was renamed in January 1937 by Fr. Lawrence Rodriques, S.J. as St. Lawrence High School. The school caters for approximately 1600 students.

History

St.Lawrence High School traces its roots to an elementary school at the Church of Our Lady of Dolours at Baithakkhana, Sealdah, in 1810. In 1855 it was known as St. John Chrysostom's School and prepared students for the Lower Primary Examination. In 1902 it became the site of St. Ann’s Orphanage and included Upper Primary School; teaching was in Bengali but instruction in English was included. In 1913 teaching turned to English and boys were prepared for the Junior Cambridge Course. In 1920 the University of Calcutta recognized Chrysostom as a high school, with its first graduation in 1922. At that time the school at 126 Bow Bazar Street occupied one floor of a building that had a printery on the ground floor and the top floor housed boarders; it had no playground. In the 1930s Fr. Lawrence Rodriques S.J. held Sunday raffles to purchase St. Xavier's College land at Ballygunge. In January 1937 he was able to open a large new school there, featuring tall eucalyptus trees, a flower garden, and playground. Rodrigues rechristened the school after his namesake, Lawrence of Rome. ^[1]

The school maintains as a goal to uplift the poor, to show equal respect for all castes, creeds, and social strata, and to promote unity in diversity. ^[1] It would implement the Jesuit ideal of forming "persons for and with others." ^[2]

Programmes

St. Lawrence is an unaided, primary through higher secondary school for boys, with English as the medium of instruction. It has about 28 teachers and 22 classrooms at the secondary level, ^[3] with computer-aided learning. ^[4] Students are organized into four "houses" which integrate primary and high school students. ^[5]

In 2017, St. Lawrence High celebrated in a big way the United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (6 April) and, along with its alumni association, ^[6] sponsored an art contest for Jesuit schools worldwide on the theme of Olympic Games and Peace. ^[7] In 2016 a group of students enjoyed a one-week, educational trip to China hosted by the Chinese Consul General His Excellency Mr. Ma Zhanwu. ^[8]

Cricket, soccer, and basketball are the main school sports. ^[9] The school has also had a championship rowing team. ^[10] Extracurricular activities include speech and debate, drama, music, and choir. ^[11] Dozens of videos of student activities are available on the web, as well as a tour of the facility. ^{[12] [13]}

Notable alumni

• Aniruddha Bose, Hon’ble Justice of the Supreme Court of India
• Ranadeb Bose, an Indian first class cricketer
• Suman Chakraborty, Professor of Mechanical engineering at IIT Kharagpur ^[14]
• Abhik Ghosh, chemist and winner of the Hans Fischer Career Award (2022) for lifetime contributions ^[15]
• Ashok Jhunjhunwala, an Indian academic, awarded Padma Shri, India, 2002: distinguished service in science and engineering, telecommunications
• Kharaj Mukherjee, an Indian actor
• Saugata Roy, an Indian Politician and a member of parliament in the Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament
• Tathagata Roy, an Indian Politician, Former Governor of Tripura (2015–2018), Former Governor of Meghalaya (2018–2020)
• Kabir Suman ,an Indian Politician, music director, singer, composer, politician, former journalist and Former Member of Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament

See also

• Schools portal
• Catholicism portal
• India portal

• List of Jesuit schools
• List of schools in West Bengal

References

1. "History". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
2. "Men for Others". onlineministries.creighton.edu. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
3. "Teaching staff". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
4. "St. Lawrence High School, Ward-69, Kolkata - West Bengal". iCBSE. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
5. "houses". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
6. "Expression 2017 - A report | sportanddev.org". www.sportanddev.org. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
7. "International Day of Sport for Development and Peace observed by St. Lawrence High School - Educate Magis". Educate Magis. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
8. "Trip to China". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
9. "Sports". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
10. "Rowing 2014, 2015: Bengal and All India K.C. Mahindra Invitational". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
11. "Activities". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
12. "Shots on campus". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
13. "Picture tour". stlawrencehighschool.edu.in. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
14. Danita, Yadav (11 January 2023). "IT Kharagpur Professor Dr Suman Chakraborty wins Infosys Prize 2022 for Engineering and Computer Science". TimesNow. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
15. "Society of Porphyrins & Phthalocyanines". www.icpp-spp.org. Retrieved 16 April 2022.