St. Xavier's Collegiate School
St. Xaviers's Collegiate School (SXCS) | |
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![]() Nihil Ultra (Latin)
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Location | |
30, Park Street Kolkata – 700016 ![]() (Map) |
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Information | |
Type | Private, day school |
Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
Established | 16 January 1860 |
Session | April–March |
Headmaster | Benny Thomas S.J. |
Faculty | 83 |
Gender | Male |
Number of students | 2300 |
Classes | Preparatory to Class 12 |
Average class size | 40 |
Education system | Unit Test (20 marks) and Block Tests(80 Marks) |
Medium of language | English |
Hours in school day | 5:30 |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Blue and White |
Slogan | Nihil Ultra(Nothing Beyond) OR Do You See What I See? I see SXC! |
Song | Proud of Our School |
Athletics | Track and Field |
Sports | Basketball, Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Rowing |
Nickname | Sunny, Xaverian |
Yearbook | The Xaverian |
Communities served | LTS, Nature Club, X-quizite, Social Service |
Affiliations | ICSE and ISC |
Alumni | Alumnorum Societas (ALSOC) |
Nobel laureates | Rabindranath Tagore |
Information | +91 33 2280 5197 +91 33 2280 5198 |
Website | SXCS.edu.in |
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St. Xavier's Collegiate School (informally SXCS) is a boys-only independent day school in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was founded in 1860 by the Jesuits and it is named after St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit saint of the 16th century, who travelled to India. The school completed its Sesquicentennial year of existence, in 2010.
The school houses roughly 2300 pupils aged 5 to 18. Admission to the school is based on a form shortlist and an interview. Every year in April, the school admits pupils aged 4+ in Preparatory and aged 5+ in Grade 1. SXCS pupils take the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education in tenth and twelfth Grades. Pupils are offered a choice between Humanities, Commerce or Science subjects in eleventh and twelfth grades. The school previously offered the Madhyamik but it does not offer it anymore because of the diminishing popularity of the Madhyamik among pupils. Many of the school's pupils are children of alumni.
Contents
History
The school was founded in 1860 by the Jesuits, an all-male Catholic religious order formed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The school is named after Francis Xavier, the 16th century Spanish Jesuit saint. The founder of the school is Fr. Henri Depelchin . He had overseen most of the ground work, during the foundation years [1]
San Souci theatre
30 Park Street (now Mother Teresa Sarani), Kolkata-700016, was where the San Souci theatre was located, before 1843. A fire broke out in 1843, leaving nothing but ashes. This same address was later bought by 7 Jesuits, who had arrived from Belgium. It is here, that the present day campus stands tall.[2]
Foundation years
The present 30, Park Street address where the school is situated, is an amalgamation of numbers 10 and 11 of Park Street. Premise number 11 was bought for Rs 45,000.00, by Fr. Depelchen. These funds were made possible with the generous donations of the Anglo-Indians and with help from the home Province of Belgium. Park street is located in the heart of Kolkata and is a landmark street in the city, a melting pot of its diverse cultural, culinary, social and intellectual milieu.
The very first class had as few as 40 students. Today, it has more than 2300 students.
However, there was a paucity of funds for expansion work in terms of class rooms and to accommodate the Jesuits fathers. So The Rector appealed to the public of Calcutta in newspapers for generous assistance and was responded with magnanimity by well wishers of the city in 1864. Besides Fr Depelchin and his assistant and Br. Koppes the builder went around personally collecting funds. The present imposing 5 storied building was built in an interval of 6 years, from 1934 to 1940 at a cost of Rs 9 lakhs, which was collected partly from the public of Calcutta, assistance from Belgium, and the huge rental received from the American army that occupied the building during the second war.[3][4] Expansion of the school has been a ceaseless effort, with a campus slated to come up in Salt Lake City, Kolkata and a second boys' hostel not far away from the existing one.
Goethals library
The Goethals library, which is located above the campus Chapel, houses some of the oldest periodicals, journals and books. The treasures were inherited by the Jesuit Fathers in 1908 from the then Archbishop of Calcutta, Paul Goethals S.J. Today, the treasures are well preserved and the library has become a spot of historical significance.
Postal stamp
A commemorative stamp was issued by the Indian Post on 12 April 1985 depicting the campus, thus recognizing the school's contribution to society.[3]
Infrastructure
There are two school buildings separated by a street, one for the Primary School (grades K - 5) and the other for the Secondary School (grades 6 - 12). The secondary school building shares the campus with the St. Xavier's College building and one of the college hostels. The two institutions were established by the same Christian order, but have independent administrations.
Religious affiliation
The school was established for the education of Catholic boys. However, it has long admitted students of any religious belief. In fact, most classes (with the exception of Kindergarten) are made up of primarily non-Christian students.
Academic affiliation
The school is affiliated to the "Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations" (which conducts the ICSE and ISC exams in grades, i.e., classes 10 and 12 respectively) as well as the "West Bengal Board of Secondary Education" (which holds the Madhyamik exams after grade 10). The students are given a choice of following either board up to standard 10 but must follow the Indian Council's board for classes 11 and 12. However, due to a lower number of students opting for the West Bengal board, classes are held only for ICSE board, and the ISC board for the 11th and 12th standard.
School session
The school session is from April to March. Saturday is the normal weekly holiday (in addition to Sunday).
Uniform
The primary school uniform is dark grey shorts and white shirt while secondary school students wear white shorts/trousers with white shirt. A colored monogram on the shirt pocket has been introduced from April 2011. During winter months a dark blue pullover is permitted in both schools. Secondary school students also have the option of wearing a blue blazer.
A metal badge which shows the house name and colors is worn by the students on the top left side of the shirt. The house captains and vice-captains have badges that denote their designations along with the house colors.
Footwear is black leather shoes with laces. On days when students have Physical Training in school, they wear white canvas sport shoes, along with the vests of their respective house colours, Blue for Loyola, Green for Gonzaga,Yellow for Berchmans and Red for Britto.
The school tie is dark blue with white slanting stripes. It is not compulsory every day but required for important events.
Student exchange programs
St. Xavier's Collegiate School is the one of the very few schools in India which hosts not one but two annual international student exchange programs.
The exchange program with Belvedere College, Dublin, Ireland, has run over 17 years and is open to students of classes 9-10. Fifteen Xaverian boys go to Dublin during the summer vacation in May, whereas the Irish students visit St. Xavier's Collegiate School in November.
The second exchange programme is with China, open to the boys of 11-12 (those who have not been a part of the Dublin exchange program), St. Xavier's Collegiate School was the first School in India to have a student exchange program with China at this level. The first successful exchange took place in May 2011, led by Jesuit Frs. Jerome and Sebastian when the Xaverians visited Shida Fuzhong High School, Kunming, and the Chinese students visited St.Xavier's in November 2011.
Curriculum
Students may choose to follow either the ICSE or Madhyamik curriculum till class 10. In classes 11 and 12, however, they must follow the ISC curriculum, but may choose to study Science (physics, chemistry, maths and biology/computer science), Commerce (commerce, accounts, economics and maths), or Humanities (sociology, history, political science with maths). An Indian language is optional in classes 11 and 12.
House system
The secondary school students are grouped into four houses named after Jesuit saints. The primary section had a house system, which was discontinued for a couple of years. It was reinstated from academic year 2011-12. The houses are:
- Britto House (red), named after Saint John de Brito
- Gonzaga House (green), named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
- Loyola House (blue), named after Saint Ignatius Loyola
- Berchmans House (yellow), named after Saint John Berchmans
Each house has a House Captain and a House Vice Captain – generally students of grades 12 and 11 respectively. Reporting to them are the House Representatives – one for each of the other grades. These executive members are selected by voting amongst the students belonging to each house.
The houses compete against each other in sports and academics. On the annual sports day, the winning house is declared on the basis of points earned by its students throughout the year.
Other clubs
The school also has many active clubs, which are aimed at building leadership qualities in the students at the school level. The clubs comprise:
- X-quizite – The quiz club
- X-Calibre – The debate club
- Computer Club
- The Nature Club
- Sansriti (The Bengali cultural club)
- LTS (Leadership Training Service)
- CLC (Christian Life Community)
- Film Club
- Xperimentia (science club)
Notable alumni
Movies & Music
-
Raj Kapoor
Bollywood actor -
Utpal Dutt (1929-1993) actor.jpg
Utpal Dutt
National Film Award,
Best Actor,1970
- Dilshad Khan, Hindustani classical singer
- Dhritiman Chatterjee, Actor
- Aditya Vikram Sengupta, National Award Winning Filmmaker (Asha Jaoar Majhe, 2015) and Artist
Politics & Government
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Jyoti Basu - Calcutta 1996-12-21 089 Cropped.png
Jyoti Basu
Longest serving CM,
WB, India -
Shashi Tharoor
former UN Undersecretary,
former External Affairs minister
- Siddhartha Shankar Ray, barrister, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and former Indian Ambassador to the US
- General Shankar Roychoudhury, former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
- Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Govt. of India
- Satyendranath Tagore, first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service, elder brother of Rabindranath
- Dipankar P Gupta, former Solicitor General of India
Sports
-
Norman Pritchard
Dual silver medalist,
1900 Paris Olympics -
Sourav Ganguly
Indian cricket captain,
2000–2005
Writers & Thinkers
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Rabindranath Tagore
Writer and Nobel Laureate,
1875
Vladimir Ilytich Lenin Alexander Kerensky
Scientists
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Jagadish Chandra Bose
Preeminent scientist,
Fellow of the Royal Society
Business
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Sanjiv Goenka
Vice Chairman,
RPG
- Aditya Vikram Birla, Industrialist
Others
- Barun De, historian; Chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission, Calcutta
- Derek O' Brien, Barry O'Brien and Neil O' Brien, quizmasters [6]
- Sanjeev Sanyal, economist and environmentalist.
- Mahan Maharaj, mathematician, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award winner.
References
- ↑ SXCS
- ↑ History of the institution
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 indianpost.com commemorative stamp Retrieved on 4 February 2008
- ↑ sxccal.edu history Retrieved on 6 February 2008
- ↑ Rosalie Murphy, Contemporary poets of the English language (St. James Press, 1970)
- ↑ Quizmaster Derek O' Brien, an ex-student of St Xavier's School... The Times of India, 25 January 2005.
External links
SXCS.edu.in Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Pages with broken file links
- Use dmy dates from May 2014
- Use Indian English from May 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
- Pages using infobox school with deprecated parameters
- Pages using infobox school with unsupported parameters
- Jesuit schools
- Roman Catholic secondary schools in India
- Jesuit schools in India
- Schools in Kolkata
- Educational institutions established in 1860
- Boys' schools in India