St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School
22°32′15.00″N 88°21′15.23″E / 22.5375000°N 88.3542306°E / 22.5375000; 88.3542306
blue yellow
St. John's Diocesan Girls' H.S. School (informally known as Diocesan or Dio) is a girls-only day school located in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India. It was established in 1876 by British missionary Angelina Margaret Hoare from Kent, England who devoted her life to the advancement of women's education in British India. It is a Christian school run by the Protestant Church of North India and its primary language of instruction is English. The school's patron saint is Saint John the Baptist. Although previously a college, the school was stripped of its college status by the British Government when freedom-fighter Bina Das, a student of the school, attempted to assassinate the Governor of Bengal, Stanley Jackson.
Today, the school is often considered to be one of the most prestigious girls' schools in Bengal, and has a rich history of distinguished alumnae such as Lady Abala Bose, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Maitreyi Devi. It is situated in the iconic Landsdowne Road (officially Sarat Bose Road) in South Kolkata and also runs a school for underprivileged children in Ripon Street.[1]
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History
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The school is one of the oldest girls' schools in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). In 1894, the school was named St. John's Diocesan by the Clewer Sisters of John the Baptist from Windsor, Berkshire. The school was started in 1876 by Sister Angelina Margaret Hoare (17 May 1843 – 10 January 1892), a British missionary from Kent, England who devoted her life to the advancement of women's education in British India. From her diaries we know that the school started with 16 female students.[citation needed]
From 1908 to 1931, St. John's Diocesan School remained the only Christian women's college of good repute in eastern India. Hoare wrote in a letters to her brother in England: "...my idea of the future of our Diocesan School is that it should be an institution not confined to any particular society or an elite group..." She died at age 48 in 1892. Upon her death, Bishop of Calcutta, Bishop Johnson, praised her in the following words:
...be assured, all of you that her devoted life has not been lost, for the public of Calcutta. The work she has done can never be altogether lost sight of. Not to mention the seed she has sown in the hearts of her beloved children in the Diocesan School of Calcutta and other schools in the Sundarbans , which will bear fruit in the generations to come...
[2][3][4][5]
On 7 April 1931, Beena Das who was a student of the school, shot the then Governor, Stanley Jackson for which the recognition of the college status was taken way thereafter by the British Government. During its earlier days till the 1970s, it was a co-educational school. However, during the 1970s, the need for educational institutions for women in Kolkata was felt and since then the school has devoted itself to the betterment of female education only. It has more than 3,800 female students and is affiliated to the WBBSE and WBCHSE.[citation needed]
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Principals
List of Principals | |
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Sister Hilda Francis | — |
Charubala Das | — |
Molina Mukherjee | — |
Nilima Pyne | — |
Joya Shome | — |
T. Samuel Raj | 1985 - 1990 |
Rosita Chrestien | 1990 - 2012 |
Carolyn Lionel | 2012 - 2018 |
Snigdha Gain | 2019–present |
Academic life
The school admits only female students and is predominantly taught by female teachers. The school teaches from the Preschool level to the higher secondary (10 + 2) and is affiliated under the WBBSE and WBCHSE. The medium of instruction is English although Bengali and Hindi are also taught as first languages beside English. Pre-primary, Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary section starts class at the same time in the morning, five days a week, with the first two sections having an earlier finish than the rest.
Motto and emblem
The school motto is The Good Retain The Better Follow , as illustrated in the school's emblem. This is printed on all school dresses, sweaters, blazers, Physical Education, and athletic uniforms as well as school diaries, bags, note book covers and other articles.
Prayer and anthem
Before starting classes students pray the Lord's Prayer in the assembly. The school anthem is Make Me a Channel of Your Peace which is the hymn version of "Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace", adapted by Sebastian Temple.
Campus
The campus of the school is a mixture of natural beauty along with old British buildings and new buildings. It has separate playgrounds for students of nursery classes and other senior classes. Inside the campus there is a park, three play grounds, a basketball court and seven buildings in a lush green surrounding. The school has a small chapel inside one of the buildings.
Facilities
The school's facilities includes seven laboratories - Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Nutrition, Home Management and Home Nursing, Junior School Computer, Senior School Computer labs. The school has an LCD projector in the library for audio-visual aid to teaching as well as for showing films to the junior students. There is also the United Bank of India -St. John's Diocesan School branch, transport (23 buses), uniform and stationery, booth, tea and coffee booth, school canteen, and a Fulbright Scholar Exchange Programme.
Library
The school library called ‘Dio Bibliothique’ has a seating capacity of 200 students and has a collection of over 35,000 books and subscribes to periodicals and dailies.
Music Room - Conference Hall
The school Music and Audio-Visual room known as 'La Sale Diphony’ is also used for conference and seminars. Piano, organ, keyboard, Octapad, guitar and drums are the instruments which are taught in the school.
Calendar
The Summer vacation, Durga Puja, and Winter or Christmas vacations are given and the sessions usually starts for Lower Nursery to Class X - Feb through January and for Class XI and XII July through June.
Celebrations
Independence day is celebrated every year on 15 August in the school premises and so is Christmas, Teacher's Day, Children's Day, St. John's Day, Panchishe Boishakh & Baishe Srabon – the birth & death anniversaries respectively of Rabindranath Tagore, Diocesan Education Mission Fete, World AIDS day, Winter Carnival, Diotornie, Melior (Annual School Fest) and other special days of the school.[citation needed]
Uniform
The school uniform contains the school emblem and is of two sets - one for daily use and another for physical education or sports days. There are separate uniforms for daily use for the students of pre-primary section, primary section, secondary section, and higher secondary section..
Events
The school organizes academic prize distribution ceremony, sports, exhibitions, educational excursions or trips, school fests, conferences, academic and artistic programmes, Christmas Party, Farewell Party (for the leaving batches of 12th grades) and publishes a school magazine every year .
Magazine
The annual magazine of the school known as 'Papyrus' is published every year highlighting the literary talents and other achievements of the students and the school along with its events.
Houses and colors
The four houses were formally known as Lily (blue), Rose (pink), Lotus (green), and Pansy (yellow) Currently the four houses and their colors are:
- Angelina Margaret Hoare - Pink
- Sister Mary Victoria - Blue
- Sister Hilda Francis - Green
- Beena Das - Yellow
Green House Pink House Blue House Yellow House
Social services
The school is involved in social services, charities and community welfare. A tradition since 1990 has been donation of one onion and one potato on every Friday by each student from Lower Nursery to Class XII to the school which goes to the St. Joseph's old age home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. Visits to old age homes such as Mulvany House, Shanti Nivas and St Joseph's Old Age Home are made by students. Some of the reflections of the school's devotion for the welfare of the public at large include the 2004 Tsunami relief, 2009 Aila relief programme, 2008 drinking water supply programme, slum rehabilitation activities, educational Tours for underprivileged children, and a free Seva Clinic at St Mary's Church, Kolkata.
Awards
Winner of 1999 Britannia Trophy for Better Calcutta Project, winner of Best School Award by Pathfinder and Heritage Resources Pvt. Ltd, Centennial Award from the Rotary Club of Victoria, winner of The Best Maintained School Award by TTIS in three consecutive years 2006, 2007 and 2008,[6] TTIS trophy for the school that cares, winner of The Best Maintained School Award by Indian Chambers of Commerce, 2009 "Best School of the Year Award" -Mother Teresa International Award. The 2008 Golden Flame Award was given to one of its teacher, Mrs S.B. Nandi.[citation needed]
Notable alumni
Notable alumni[7] include: Armed Forces of India
- Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri – former Chief of the Army Staff (India)
- Subroto Mukherjee, former Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force
Noted Government Officials
- S. N. Roy, ICS
Arts, culture and entertainment
- Goutam Ghose, film director
- Maitreyi Devi, literati
- Leela Majumdar, author
- Sharmila Tagore, actor
- Mala Sinha, actor
- Shreyasi Chatterjee, artist and art historian, Rabindra Bharati University
Academia and education
- Lady Abala Bose, wife of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, who later started Brahmo Samaj Girls' School
- Sarala Roy, founder of Gokhale Memorial School, Kolkata
- Tanika Sarkar, Professor in the Department of History, St. Stephen's College, Delhi
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Professor in English, Columbia University
- Vina Mazumdar feminist, women studies academician
- Purabi Roy, noted scholar, author and Netaji researcher
Field of Law
- Subimal Roy – former Justice, Supreme Court of India
Field of Medicine
- Dr Priyadarshini Bhattacharjee – Internal Medicine Specialist and Clinical Supervisor University of Cambridge and Founder-Director, South Asian Medical Students' Association an NGO based in Kolkata.
References
- ^ "About". St. John’s Diocesan Girls' HS School. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ^ St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School website Archived 18 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, stjohnsdiocesanschool.org; accessed 17 June 2016.
- ^ CNI Diocese of Calcutta – Bishops Archived 1 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, cnicalcutta.org; accessed 17 June 2016.
- ^ Chapter XXVII: The Mother Diocese of Calcutta, 1815 - A History of the Church of England in India, SPCK, 1924.
- ^ Diocese of Kolkata Archived 26 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine, cnisynod.org; accessed 17 June 2016.
- ^ The Telegraph Official Website
- ^ School Alumni
External links
- Official website
- CNI Diocese of Calcutta – Bishops Archived 1 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Diocese of Kolkata Archived 26 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine - Church of North India
- NDTV Fitness Campaign 2011
- v
- t
- e
- Bengali Renaissance
- Black Hole of Calcutta
- Bhurshut
- Calcutta flag
- Dihi Panchannagram
- Direct Action Day
- Dutch Bengal
- Gobindapur
- History of Kolkata
- Presidency division
- Job Charnock
- Kalighat–Falta Railway
- Kalikata
- Robert Clive
- Sabarna Roy Choudhury
- Siege of Calcutta
- Sutanuti
- State Archaeological Museum
- Warren Hastings
- Battle of Biderra/Chinsurah
- Nabakrishna Deb
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Kolkata metropolitan area
- Neighbourhoods
- Streets (list)
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High rises |
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economy
- ABP Group
- Allahabad Bank
- AMRI Hospitals
- Andrew Yule and Company
- Baidyanath Group
- Balmer Lawrie
- Batanagar
- Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals
- Berger Paints
- Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam
- Biecco Lawrie
- Birds Jute and Export
- Birla Corporation
- Braithwaite & Co.
- Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company
- Bridge and Roof Company
- Britannia Industries
- Burn & Company
- Burnpur
- Burn Standard Company
- Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC)
- Calcutta Stock Exchange
- Chandras' Chemical Factory
- Coal India
- Damodar Valley Corporation
- Emami
- Exide Industries
- Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
- GKB Opticals
- Hawkers
- Hind Motor
- Hindustan Ambassador
- IISCO Steel Plant
- India Government Mint, Kolkata
- ITC Limited
- Jai Balaji group
- Jessop & Company
- Kolkata Port Trust
- Lexulous
- Limtex
- Lux Industries
- Magma Fincorp
- National Insurance Company
- Peerless Group
- Saregama
- Sinclairs Hotels Limited
- Tata Global Beverages
- The Park Hotels
- UCO Bank
- United Bank of India
- VISA Steel
- Kolkata Book Fair
- Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk
- Calcutta Youth Choir
- Coffee House
- Dwarkin
- Festivals
- Kolkata International Film Festival
- Dover Lane Music Conference
- Kolkata in the media
- Music of Bengal
- Nandan
- Priya
- Rabindra Nritya Natya
- Rabindra Sangeet
- Ritwik Ghatak
- Satyajit Ray
- Feluda
- Byomkesh Bakshi
- Ghanada
- Prostitution in Kolkata
- Tenida
- Tollywood
- Ghosts in Bengali culture
- Adda
- Rabindra Tirtha
- Nazrul Tirtha
- Mishti Hub
- Football
- Group theatre of Kolkata
Ethnic enclaves |
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worship
Hindu | |
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Christian | |
Others |
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- ATK
- Barasat Stadium
- B.C. Roy Trophy
- Beighton Cup
- Bengal cricket team
- Bhawanipore FC
- Calcutta Cricket and Football Club
- Calcutta Polo Club
- Calcutta South Club
- Bengal Tigers
- Calcutta Cricket and Football Club
- Calcutta Football League
- Dalhousie AC
- East Bengal FC
- East Bengal Ground
- Eastern Railway FC
- Eden Gardens
- Indian Football Association
- IFA Shield
- Kalighat Milan Sangha FC
- Kishore Bharati Krirangan
- Kolkata derby
- Kolkata Knight Riders
- Kolkata Police Friendship Cup Football Tournament
- Kolkata Vipers
- Mohammedan Sporting Club
- Mohammedan Sporting Ground
- Mohun Bagan Super Giant
- Mohun Bagan Ground
- Netaji Indoor Stadium
- Indian Arrows
- United SC
- Rabindra Sarobar Stadium
- Royal Bengal Tigers
- Salt Lake Stadium
- Sunfeast Open
- Southern Samity
- Subroto Cup
- Aryan FC
- Tollygunge Agragami FC
- West Bengal football team
- Adwaita
- Zoological Garden, Alipore
- Bengal Club
- Calcutta Club
- Calcutta Rowing Club
- Central Forensic Science Laboratory
- Chinese of Calcutta
- Early phase of printing in Calcutta
- Electoral constituencies
- List of people from Kolkata
- Fort William
- Hooghly River
- Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden
- Maidan
- Missionaries of Charity
- Princeton Club
- Rabindra Sarobar
- Royal Calcutta Golf Club
- Sonagachi
- South Park Street Cemetery
- Tollygunge Club
- Tala tank
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