St. Xavier's High School, Fort

St. Xavier's High School, Fort is an English medium school for boys in Fort, Mumbai, India.

History

St.Xavier's was established in 1869 by the Jesuits in the neo-gothic building it occupies to this day. Fragments of its history are visible throughout its corridors of the primary section in the form of stuffed hunted animals shot by priests during the British Raj. This collection is almost like a museum and second only to the BNHS section at the Prince of Wales Museum, Rumbas. Notable among these is the butterfly and bird collection on the first floor and the stuffed tiger on the third floor. The tiger was donated by the Maharaja of Vanzra, Gujrat who was an ex-student of the school. The butterfly and bird collection is the work of Brother Navarro, a Spanish Jesuit and a naturalist who was associated with the school. At one corner of the primary quadrangle a section of a ship's propeller which landed there at the time of the Bombay Harbour Explosion of 1944.

Education

The school follows the SSC board which is the state board of the Government of Maharashtra. It runs classes from standard one to standard ten. The primary (Standard one to four) and secondary school occupy different buildings. A class has four sections from 'A' to 'D' with approximately sixty students each.

All students of the secondary school belong to one of four houses - Ashoka (blue), Tilak (yellow), Nehru (red), Tagore (green). Each house has an elected House Captain from standard ten and a Vice-Captain from standard nine. Additionally a School Captain and Vice-Captain are elected from standard ten. These student representatives are primarily involved in maintaining student discipline and leading student and ceremonial activities.

Due importance is given to sports and it is one of the few schools in space-starved south Bombay to have a large football field, basketball courts, a paved covered activity hall and an assembly quadrangle.

Notable alumni

*Sunil Gavaskar
*Aftab Shivdasani
*Naseeruddin Shah
*Adi Godrej
*Soli Sohrabjee
*Gen. S.F. Rodrigues
*Milind Rege
* Arvind Mafatalal
* Gautam Rajadhyaksha
*Tiku Talsania

External links

* [http://www.xaviersfort.org/ St. Xavier's High School Official Website]