St Paul's School, Rourkela

Infobox School IN
name = Saint Paul's School

|size=
motto = Ut omnes unum sint That they may be one
established = 1965
type = Private, boys, Catholic
location = Rourkela
campus =
district = Sundergarh
state = Orissa
founder = Fr. Thomas Morris, SVD
affiliation = ICSE and ISC
classes = K.G I to class XII
chairperson =
principal = Fr. K.C. Thomas
head=
dean =
faculty =
staff = c. 80
students = c. 2500
uniform = check shirt with school logo and blue shorts( pre-primary),white shirt with school logo and maroon shorts(primary),white shirt with school logo and white pants(VI to XII)
campus =
Telephone = 91-661-2642786 / 2642787 / 2647284 / 2647285
Fax = 91-0661-2647285
website = http://www.stpauls-rourkela.org

Saint Paul's School, Rourkela is an eminent institution imparting education to boys from the Pre- Primary level to the Higher Secondary level. The school is owned and conducted by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), a religious minority institution under article 30(1) of the constitution of India. St. Paul’s is a Catholic school that admits students of all religions. The School exempts non-catholic students from participating in the exercises particular to the Catholics. The aim of St. Paul’s is an all round development - academic, physical, moral and cultural – of its students into mature and responsible citizens who will be ready to take their rightful place in society.

History

In 1964, Fr. Thomas Morris, SVD, an Irish priest, who was working in a parish in the Sundergarh district, was entrusted with this new venture at Rourkela. While returning from his home visit in England, in 1963, Fr. Morris met an elderly British lady, Mrs. Ethel Brown, a war widow who was his co-traveller in the same ship. He took her under his charge and gave her accommodation at Rourkela. She consented to assist Fr. Morris with the running of this English Medium School. The school began with a strength of about 50, and had Stds. 4, 5 and 6 in a tin shed by the side of a small church. Fr. Morris had to go personally in his motorcar to collect the students every morning. Every year a lower and a higher class was added and in no time the school had classes from Std. I to X. Armed with funds from the Society of the Divine Word and the building plan from Britain, the construction of the first school building was started with full earnestness. Within a few years, the building took shape to accommodate students from Std. I to X. It had office rooms as well as lab facilities.Fr. Morris had dedicated and loyal friends like Mrs. Brown, Fr. Wollcot, and Mrs. Florrie Alvaraz, to help him in the beginning, to make this school well known. He had on his staff, Mr. Nair, a physical education teacher who trained the students in discipline and fitness; Rodericks and Stevens, two Canadian youth who were on a student exchange programme, to teach English to classes X and Senior Cambridge; Mr. Behera for Biology; Fr. Felix for Physics and Mr. T.S. Tripathy for Mathematics. Mr. Tripathy is a strong pillar and support to the school management to this day. There was Mr. Varghese too, a clerk in the office, who was extremely efficient in handling all official business.The first batch of STD X and the last batch of the Senior Cambridge appeared for the public exams in 1969 winning accolades. Then on, there was no looking back, so, academic laurels were achieved year after year. The strength of students increased to a great extent in the 70s.Fr. Joseph Mannamparambil, SVD became the Principal. This period was marked by growth and consolidation. A building, exclusive for STDs. XI & XII was put-up. The first batch of students for Std. XI was admitted in the year 1987 with both boys and girls. The demand for Pre-Primary education was so high, that Fr. Joe had to start the Pre-Primary sections in 1994 – 1995. He was a very good principal and was very important for the sucess of the school . He is till now remembered for his great work and mainly behavior .The building with the auditorium on the first floor and the Pre-Primary section on the ground floor was made ready in no time. The 18 years that Fr. Joe was at the helm, gave him the onerous task of guiding and leading the school into the 21st century.From 1999Dr. Rev. K.C. Thomas, SVD took over the operations.Dr. Rev. K.C.Thomas who has spent a good number of years in the States has a wide perspective regarding education. His rich experience helps him with farsightedness and a modern outlook.He emphasizes the need for extra curricular activities along with academics, so as to help the development of personality and character building in the students. He has only seen students’ growth in the school. Now its one of the largest schools in Eastern India.

Vision

St. Paul’s School endeavors to form integral and compassionate human beings who will take their rightful place in the society serving our motherland selflessly, and ushering in social change leading to establishment of a society of equality, fellowship, peace and justice. To achieve this school strives for –

.Academic performance of highest standard.

.Development of vibrant, self-assured and versatile young men through athletics, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

.Individuals who are morally sound and spiritually mature through value education and prayer. .Persons who have a heart for the poor and the less privileged through exposure to realities of India.

Academics

St. Paul's has been witnessing great results since its inception. 100% pass percentage in ICSE and ISC has been synonimus with it.It can be seen from the fact that in the year 2006, 42 students out of 178 appeared in ICSE got above 90%. The lowest achieved marks in that year being 74%.This record was itself broken by the 2007 batch. Over the years it has been producing students who have been IITians, NITians, etc. The highest rank obtained by an Orissa student in IIT-JEE, of AIR-04 is an alumni of this school. All the students that have achieved these feats have done them on their own capabilities. The ISC students have to focus only on their boards and revesion tests are conducted to see that each and every student focuses on ISC and not at all PREPARE FOR THEIR ENTRANCES!!! This attributes to our Principal who needs his school's name and reputation only and not the welfare of the students. It has got one of the best faculties present in Eastern India. The school is equipped with a state of the art Auditorium and a vast library for students from class VI to XII. But the students are restricted from using the library books. A specific type of library books are given to the students. For junior classes a mini library is present in each classroom. It also boasts of two fully equipped computer labs and good practical labs. It has new computer lab but all the classes are not allowed to use the new lab.

Alumni

Paulines ( as the students of St. Paul's) are called are present all over the world. They have tasted success and fought failures. They have to because of this school's standard. Many of them are present in executive ranks in various MNCs. They have not only turned out to be successful people but also good citizens.

ports

It has a playground with a football ground and a basketball court. The football ground has no grass and if someone falls down in the summer as well as in the rainy season, he will either get injured or get muddy. It has a basketball court and five bandminton courts in the school compound. The lines of the courts are faded and painted once in four years. The lines are not even visible. However students play basketball during the breaks. During winter season bandminton is played. Shuttle is never provided by school. It has a bandminton tournament during January. To participate in the cometition students have to pay Rs 15 and Rs 20 for singles and doubles respectively. In this tournament Shuttle is provided by the school authority. The judges of the matches are the senior students of standard XI & IX. It also participates in the Zonal Sports and States Sports. The students are selected by the PETs. There is no qualification for the sports. Only the famous students are selected and other students which are little introvert but having more capability are even not asked.Fact|date=September 2008Earlier it had a table tennis court. But now it is not there. There is no development of other sports. There is no indoor games and students are forced to play the available games. Some students having a different taste of games have to sit during the games period.Fact|date=September 2008