St Joseph's College, Nainital

Infobox_School
name = St. Joseph's College


imagesize = 200px
established = 1888
type = Private
affiliation = ICSE
district =
grades = 1-10
principal = Mr. Peter Emmanuel
head of school =
dean =
faculty = 90
staff =
students = 900
enrollment =
athletics = Soccer,Cricket,Tennis, Basketball, Swimming,Field Hockey,Track and Field
colors = Blue, Yellow, Green, Red
mascot =
free_label = Houses
free_text = Gandhi, Nehru, Pant, Tagore
free_label2 = Motto
free_text2 = "Certa Bonum Certa men" meaning 'Fight The Good Fight'
location = Nainital, Uttranchal, India
information = +91
website = [http://www.sjc-ntl.net/ SJC Nainital]

St Joseph's College Nainital is a residential school in Nainital, Uttranchal, India providing public school education.

Overview

St. Joseph's College Nainital was established in 1888. Initially the site was the location of a seminary, run by the Italian Capuchin Fathers. The seminary ran for a short while and then reopened as a Catholic school for boys: St. Joseph's College. Hence, the school is still referred to as "SEM" (for Seminary). In 1892 four Christian Brothers took over formal charge of St. Joseph's College and thus began the involvement of the Christian Brothers in the running of the school.

St. Joseph's College is one of the 20 educational institutions in India conducted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a pontifical institute, founded in Ireland in 1802 by Edmund Ignatius Rice - a wealthy Catholic layman, who was beatified in 1996.

St. Joseph’s College is currently going through a period of transition. However, Brother T.P.Fitzpatrick and Brother J.Murray still play an active role in the school, taking classes and involving themselves in co-curricular activities.

Boys and campus

The school’s current roll strength is about 960, with 360 boarders on the rolls. New admissions are taken only in classes one and three. There is no intake in any other class. The school is affiliated to the council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations and prepares students for the ICSE examinations. There is no plus-two section at present. The school is situated at an altitude of about 2,000 meters above mean sea level amidst idyllic surroundings of the Kumaon Hills. It has a salubrious climate which is quite conducive to studies as well as games, sports and other co-curricular activities. This school is exclusively meant for boys between the age group of 8 to 16 years. The school’s main focus is on academic excellence but provides enough opportunity for the all-round development of student personality. It has six playing fields, a gymnasiumand a swimming pool to provide sufficient scope for physical development.

A Semite (as students of this institution are called) is humane, determined to be righteous, strives for the best, fights a good fight and places principles before personalities. "You can take a Semite out of Sem but you can't take Sem out of a Semite"

ports and activities

Hockey, cricket, athletics, football, table tennis, basketball and volleyball are the principal games. A wide range of cultural and co-curricular activities allow for the development of communication and inter-personal skills.St. Joseph's College invariably emerges as the winner of almost all the sports events in which it takes part. Sem is famous for playing schools like Sherwood College, St. Columba's and St. Amtul's, in inter-college tournaments.Ex-Semites owe all their success on the playing field to the rigorous training sessions that they received here in the college.Semites are taught to play with passion and not with empty valour.

chool anthem

You've heard of many a school I trow
And many a college too
But there is one that always is
The best for me 'n you
'Tis perched o'er Naini's lovely lake
And our dads were there of old
For a century and more 'tis known
As the home of the true and bold

'Twas called at first the good old sem
And later SJC
And a dearer place cannot be found
At least for you and me
Its boys are hard to beat my friends
In classroom, field or fame
Their motto down the years has been
Make sure to play the game

And here's to the boys of SJC
To her children every man
And pass the word to those who'll come
Give the motto of the clan
Adown the years to fight life's fightTo fight it clean and be
Among the boys who've kept the bridge
At dear old SJC

Distinguished Alumni

Several hundred alumni share informal news on current events at the [http://www.sjc-ntl.net/ SJC Web Site] . A list of yahoo groups for different batches [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SJCNainital/links] .

Some notable alumni include:

POLITICS

* K. C. Pant (Former Defence Minister & Vice Chairman Planning Commission)
* Prof. Rajendra Singh ( Rajju Bhayia) (Former Head, RSS)
* K.C. Singh Baba (Member of Parliament, Nainital)
* Kisan Pande (Former MLA)

ARMED FORCES

* Maj. Rajesh Singh Adhikari (Maha Vir Chakra )
* Vice Admiral RKS Gandhi (Former Governor Himachal Pradesh)
* Lt. Gen Gajendra Singh Rawat PVSM, AVSM (Former Vice Chief Indian Army)
* Lt. Gen Zameeruddin Shah (Former Deputy Chief Indian Army & Naseeruddin Shah's Elder Brother)
* Lt. Gen D. S. Barthwal (D.G. M.I.)
* Maj Gen Shankar Ghosh, VSM (approved for promotion to Lt Gen)
* Lt Col Rana Roy (Editor Sem Tattler)

MISCELLANEOUS

* Peter Bertram Cypriano Castellino de Noronha
* Naseeruddin Shah (Film Actor)
* Lalit Modi (Commissioner, Indian Premier League )
* Kevin Carton(Former captain of the Australian Hockey Team,Olympian)
* Kamal Pande (Former Cabinet Secretary,Government Of India)
* Dhirendra Singh (Former Home Secretary,Government Of India)
* Aditya Khanna (Chanakya Cinema, New Delhi)
* Anil Nanda (CEO Akme Projects Ltd.)
* Subroto Kundu (Retired Naval Doctor,Author)
* Brij Raj Punj (CMD Fedders And Lloyd)
* Muktesh Pant(Former Vice-President, Global Brand Marketing for Reebok)
* Dr.A.S.Rawat.
* Mr Alok K Misra(Chairman and Managing Director,Oriental Bank of Commerce)
* Professor Peter Ronald deSouza, (Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study,Shimla ) (Sem 1971)

Administration

The school is being managed by a very able and dedicated administrative staff. Every possible care is taken to repair any and every little damage that may hamper the aesthetics of the campus. The staff is always busy cross checking every stone and every little piece of the lovely school building, to preserve the beautiful stone structures.

Strict discipline is maintained, while still allowing enough freedom to the students. Since the students represent the school wherever they go, they are taught the importance of their uniform, and their behavior. Matrons teach young students to look and behave their very best, always keeping in mind the honor and prestige of the school along with what it stands for.

Trivia

Quite a few Indian films have been shot at this location. The most famous of them are "Masoom", "Koi Mil Gaya", "Krrish" and "Himalayputra".