St. Xavier's Collegiate School

Infobox_School
name =St. Xaviers's Collegiate School


motto =Nihil Ultra - Nothing Beyond
established =1860
free_label =Foundation Day
free_text =16th January
type =Primary, Secondary
students =2300
faculty =83
headmaster =Father Jerome Francis
athletics =Football, cricket, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, track and field.
colors =Blue, white
location =30, Mother Teresa Sarani ("formerly" Park Street)
Kolkata, India
information =[phone] [phone]

School

Introduction

St. Xavier's Collegiate School was established in 1860 in Calcutta, India by missionaries of the Society of Jesus. It is named after St. Francis Xavier. Foundation Day is celebrated on 16th January.

There are two school buildings (separated by a street). One for the Primary School (grades K - 5) and the other is 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.

Over the years, it has established itself as one of the best and most prestigious high schools of India with many famous alumni and faculty. Admission is mostly at grade K or 1 and is fiercely competitive.

Religious Affiliation

The school was initially 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 Indian School Certificate Examination" (which conducts the ICSE and ISC exams in grades, i.e. classes 10 and 12 respectively) as well as the "West Bengal Council for 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. Presently, however due to less number of students opting for the West Bengal board, classes are held only for ICSE board, and of course, the ISC board for the 11th and 12th standard.

chool Session

The school session is from April to March. Thursday 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. 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 also 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 where students have Physical Training in school, they have to wear white canvas sport shoes.

The school tie is dark blue with white slanting stripes. It is not compulsory every day but required on important events.

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 either Science (Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology/Computer Science) or Commerce (Commerce, Accounts, Economics and Maths). An Indian Language must be offered up to class 12.

House System

The secondary school students are grouped into four houses named after Jesuit saints. These are:

Britto (red), named after Saint John de Brito.

Gonzaga (green), named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Loyola (blue), named after Saint Ignatius Loyola

Berchmans (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.

Alumni

ALSOC

The alumni body of the school is known as Alumnorum Societas (ALSOC) and is actively involved in improving the facilities at the school. Annual reunions are generally held in January or, February.

Famous Alumni

Past students of the school include:

*Rabindranath Tagore, writer and Nobel laureate
*Shashi Tharoor, former UN undersecretary
*Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, eminent scientist
*Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal
*Siddhartha Shankar Ray, noted barrister, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and former Indian Ambassador to the US
*Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
*General Shankar Roychoudhury, Former Chief of the Indian Army
*Sourav Ganguly, former Indian Cricket Captain
*Norman Pritchard, Indian athlete of British descent, first Indian to win an Olympic Medal.
*Raj Kapoor, legendary Bollywood Actor
*Utpal Dutta, Thespian
* Lieutenant General J. F. R. Jacob, Decorated war hero, former Governor of Punjab
*Laxmi Mittal, Industrialist
*Aditya Vikram Birla, Industrialist
*Sanjeev Sanyal, Economist and environmentalist
*Dipankar P Gupta, Former Solicitor General of India
*Neil O' Brien, Derek O' Brien and Barry O' Brien,Quizmasters
*Sanjiv Goenka, Industrialist
*Barun De, Historian
*Kishore Bhimani, Sports commentator
*Chandra Hirjee, former World Amateur Snooker Champion
*Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics, Cornell University
*Roopen Roy, Managing Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India and former Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers India
*Sanjoy Sen, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers