St Paul's High School, Hyderabad

Infobox high school

|right|frame
image_caption =
imagesize =
name = St. Paul's High School
motto = Truth is Light
established = 1954
type = Private School
faculty =
enrollment = 3000+
students = K - 10
city = Hyderabad
state = AP
country = flagicon|India India
colors = Green and Yellow
mascot =
information =
website = http://www.stpaulshshyd.com/
footnotes =
enrollment = 3000+
students = K - 10
city = Hyderabad
state = AP
country = flagicon|India India
colors = Green and Yellow
mascot =
information =
website = http://www.stpaulshshyd.com/
colors = Green and Yellow

principal = Rev. Bro. Show Reddy
enrollment = 3000+
students = K - 10
city = Hyderabad
state = AP
country = flagicon|India India
colors = Green and Yellow
mascot =
information =
website = http://www.stpaulshshyd.com/
footnotes =

Origins

In 1954, [http://www.allsaintshyd.com/ All Saints' High School, Hyderabad] celebrated the completion of 100 years of service to the society. On this occasion, Rev. Bro. John of God, the Rector of the school, deemed it fitting to start a new school. A building was hired at King Koti Road, Hyderabad to accommodate the new school which was christened St. Paul's High School, after Bro. John of God's favourite saint. Some of the best students of All Saints' along with a few teachers from nursery to seventh class were sent to the school, under the stewardship of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. At its inception it was an all-boys middle school, working as a branch of All Saints' High School. In 1955, it was shifted to the present premises at Hyderguda, Hyderabad. In 1958, St. Paul's High School was made autonomous and Rev. Bro. Stanislaus was appointed the Principal. By then the school had one section each from nursery to class 7, with 300 students.

Admissions

Though the school is a Catholic Minority Institution, its admission is open to all students irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. For admission into Kindergarten, the school follows a joint admission policy together with [http://www.lfhshyd.org Little Flower High School, Hyderabad] and [http://www.allsaintshyd.com/ All Saints High School, Hyderabad] , both of which also run by the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel.

Every year in January, one of the three schools (in rotation every year) conducts the admissions procedure for Kindergarten. It involves an interview of both the student and the parents. The number of students who apply for admission far exceeds the number of positions available and hence it is a very competitive process. Students are allowed to state their choice among the three schools but their choice is not guaranteed. A twenty-percent quota is generally reserved for economically backward students.

Admission to all other classes is done on a case to case basis by the school itself as per the availability on merit basis. Students who not only have a strong academic standing but also display talent in sports, literary or cultural activities are given priority in admission.

Academics

Teaching

The strength of St. Paul's High School is the teaching community- comprising over 80 teachers and supporting staff. All the teachers are highly qualified and experienced. They leave no stone unturned to make their classes educative and interesting as well. They organize classroom interactions, assign project work, take up computer-aided teaching and one-to-one counseling etc. to make their teaching more effective. St. Paul's High School was one of the first schools in the city to have imparted training to the teachers in computer aided teaching.

Divisions

The school has four academic divisions- Pre-primary, Primary, Middle and Senior.

The pre-primary division has four sections each of lower and upper Kindergarten. The primary division has four sections each of Classes I to III (Class III is equivalent to the Third Grade as it is called in the USA, Canada and some other parts of the world. Note that the word "Class" is used instead of "Grade" and the year is written in Roman Numeral). The pre-primary and primary divisions are housed in one building, commonly called the "Primary Building"

The Middle school has four sections each of Classes IV to VII and the High School has four sections each of Classes VIII to X. Both the Middle school and High School are housed in another building, commonly called the "High School Building". The High School Building and the Primary building are directly across each other and are separated by a public road.

Exams

The Academic year starts mid-June and ends in early April and is divided into three quarters. Examinations are held at the end of every quarter and every month. At the end of Class X, the students take the State Government administered Secondary School Certificate Examination. At the end of Class VII also, students have to take a State Government administered exam. The school had consistently displayed extraordinary performance in the public exams and has in several occasions had 100% pass results. Many of the school students have also obtained top ranks in these examinations.

Houses

Though the school is not a residential school, it follows a House system. The student body is split into four houses with an aim to promote healthy competition among the students.

The houses are:
* Montfort House (Yellow)- named after St. Louis de Montfort, the Patron Saint of the school
* Stanislaus House (Blue) - named after Bro. Stanislaus who captained the school for 18 years
* Gabriel House (Green)- named after the Messenger of God
* John of God House (Red) - named after Bro. John of God, the founder of the school

Each house has:
* A senior teacher in-charge for supervision
* A General House Captain (generally from the X Class) who leads the house
* An Assistant General House Captain (from the IX Class)
* A house captain for every section from Classes I to X who leads the house in his/her section
* Student members in every section from Classes I to X

Students are inducted into the houses at the time of admission and generally remain in the same house until they graduate from the school. The four houses compete among each other for the Annual Championships in the Literary, Cultural and Sports categories. There is also an "Overall Champion" trophy awarded to the best House every year. The competition between the houses often becomes intense and house-loyalty reigns supreme, especially during awards time.

School Ceremonies and Traditions

*St. Paul's Feast Day
St. Paul's Feast Day is observed in a solemn ceremony on 29th June every year. The Principal leads a prayer service with a reading from the scriptures and a brief message for the staff remembering the life and message of St. Paul, the patron Saint of the School.

*Investiture Ceremony In the beginning of every academic year, the newly elected School Cabinet and Class leaders take the oath of office in a colourful Investiture ceremony. All students adorn the colours of their respective houses and cheer as their newly elected leaders march past the dais. The Head Boy and the Head Girl make their maiden speech on this occasion.

* Teachers' DaySeptember 5th of every year is celebrated as Teachers' Day all over India in the memory of former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. In what is probably the most festive celebration of the year, students show their love, gratitude and appreciation to their teachers. Sports and games are held for the teachers and prizes are given away. Every classroom has an individual celebration for about an hour before the whole school assembles to celebrate the event. The organization of the event in its entirety is taken up by the School Cabinet and the Class Leaders and every year the leaders try to make the celebration unique.

Teacher's Day is also marked as "Back to School Day" by the alumni of the school who make it a point to visit the school and greet their teachers. Retired teachers are also felicitated on this occasion.

Principals of the Institution

[ cite web| url=http://www.stpaulshshyd.com/our-heritage.html |title=Official School Website listing past Principals|accessdate=2007-07-17 ]
* Bro. John of God- Founder
* Bro. John of the Sacred Heart- 1954-55
* Bro. Martialis- 1956-57
* Bro. Stanislaus- 1958-76
* Bro. Dominic Mary- 1976-78
* Bro. John de Britto- 1978-79
* Bro. N. C. Mathew- 1979-85
* Bro. P. K. Joseph- 1985-89
* Bro. Thomas Reddy- 1989-95
* Bro. Lawrence D’Souza - 1995-2001
* Bro. P. T. Joseph- 2001-03
* Bro. Show Reddy- 2003 onwards

Notable alumni

* "Padma Bhushan" Prof. K. Srinath Reddy [ cite web| url=http://www.3four50.com/v2/?page=memberprofile&user_id=4217 |title= Prof. Srinath Reddy's Profile |accessdate=2007-07-17 ] - President, Public Health Foundation of India and former Head of the Department of Cardiology at AIIMS. Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Medal by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health.
* "Padma Sri" Pullela Gopichand [ cite web| url=http://sportal.nic.in/legenddetails.asp?sno=714&moduleid=&maincatid=6&subid=0&comid=55 |title=Government of India's Sports Portal Webpage on Pullela Gopichand |accessdate=2007-07-17 ] - All England Open Badminton Champion for 2001, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee, Arjuna Awardee
* Raj Sharma [ cite web| url=http://www.reachouthyderabad.com/newsmaker/nm149.htm |title= Profile of Mr. Raj Sharma|accessdate=2007-07-17 ] - Senior Vice President of Investments, Merrill Lynch and featured on the Barron's list of top 100 Brokers.

Timeline

1960s

Bro. Stanislaus devoted much of his time and also his energy in designing and supervising the work of construction of more school buildings, including the auditorium, the libraries, and the laboratories. He also collected funds to finance this project. Over the years, the school's enrollment increased in leaps and bounds and is now over 3000. During Bro. Stanislaus's tenure, the school gained the recognition of being one of the best schools in the twin cities (Hyderabad-Secunderabad), winning laurels in all fronts- academics, sports, community service etc. Bro. Stanislaus was honoured with the National Award for Best Teacher in the year 1970-71, by the then President of India Late Sri V. V. Giri for his services to the country through St. Paul's High School.

In 1959, the first batch of students appeared for the X Class Board Examinations.

1970s

Ever on the look out to expand, Bro. Stanislaus acquired land on the other side of the road in 1971, to house the Primary Section. He dedicated the building to the Blessed Alphonsa and named it Alphonsa Villa. Soon after the completion of the building Bro. Stanislaus passed away on May 12, 1976 and his long and successful tenure as Principal (1958-1976) had thus eneded. Alphonsa Villa was renamed 'Bro. Stanislaus Memorial Building' in honour of the Chief Architect of St. Paul's High School. The new principal, Rev. Bro. Dominic, was a very systematic administrator and with the co-operation of the staff trained by Bro. Stanislaus, he was able to carry on efficiently. In the two years of his tenure he followed in the footsteps of his predecessor in many ways. He was very supportive and gave the staff the respect due to them and encouraged the students also, at every opportunity, to do likewise. Rev. Bro. John de Britto took over from Bro. Dominic for a year, in 1978. A very humble, soft spoken person, he was a very good administrator. He added two more stories to Bro. Stanislaus Building due to the astronomical numbers of students wanting admission into the school.

In 1979 Rev. Bro. N. C. Mathew became the Principal. He set high standards of discipline and academic efficiency, which was welcomed by parents, pupils and staff. Being a man of vision and gifted with organizational skills, he took the responsibility of planning and executing the task of extending the school building. The Central Block, the existing Administrative Block, consisting of all modern amenities like spacious Staff rooms, Library, Computer lab., Physical Science lab., Conference Hall, Monfort Hall, Reading Room, Table Tennis Hall, Brothers' quarters etc. owes its existence to him. Academic standards were further improved and extra and co-curricular activities were given a lot of importance for the all-round development of the students. During his tenure, in the year 1980, the school celebrated its Silver Jubilee.

1980s

Bro. Mathew was at the helm of the school for six years and after him Bro. P. K. Joseph took over the reins. He also, was a man of exceptional organizational skills. Deeply appreciative of the staff for their sincerity and hard work, he never failed to get their whole-hearted cooperation. A number of projects, shows (especially the magnificent 'Sound and Light' show on the life of Saint Montfort) and exhibitions were taken up on a large scale and the students and staff put in a lot of effort ungrudgingly. Bro. P. K. Joseph served the institution for four years and strove to take it to greater heights.

In 1989, Bro. Thomas Reddy took over. By nature a very quiet and a gentle person, he could be very firm whenever the occasion demanded it of him. He had immense faith in the abilities of his staff and students. Computer Science was introduced as an optional subject in 1991 and then was made a compulsory subject in 1993. After serving St. Paul's for six years, in 1995 he was elevated to the distinguished position of Provincial Superior.

1990s to present

Rev. Bro. Lawrence D'Souza took up the responsibility to head the institution in the year 1995. It was during his tenure that another storey was added to the Primary Block and is known as Gabriel Hall, and the Cellar was constructed for parking space in the high school block. He renovated the Montfort Hall, Alphonsa Hall, and the Table Tennis Hall, giving them the present modern look. He improved the facilities in the computer lab of the high school and started a new computer lab. in the primary block. St. Paul's Table Tennis Academy, which was the brainchild of Bro. Lawrence, under the able guidance of Ibrahim Khan and Nagender Reddy, was inaugurated, on December 11, 1996. Computer Science was made a compulsory subject now even in the primary school.

Bro.Lawrence decided to make the school coeducational in 1996, ending over four decades of the all-boys policy. This move was a step towards improving the relatively lower female literacy rates in the state and providing equal opportunities for education to both boys and girls alike.

In October 2001, Denzil Atkinson, (Member of the Parliament) inaugurated the HAM Radio Station on the school premises. Every year since then, the Amateur Radio Club of Hyderabad has been providing training to students to operate the HAM Radio.

Bro. Lawrence was succeeded by Rev. Bro P. T. Joseph in the year 2001. He carved a niche for himself among the staff and students. It was during his term that Centenary Celebrations of the [http://montfort.net/ Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel] and Montfort Literary and Cultural competitions were conducted in the school campus with great enthusiasm and efficiency.

The present Principal Rev. Bro. Show Reddy took over the charge of St. Paul's in the year 2003.

External links

* [http://www.stpaulshshyd.com/ Official Website of St. Paul's High School]
* [http://montfort.net/ Official Website of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel]

References