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Holy Family High School (Mumbai, India)
Encyclopedia
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is a primary and secondary education school, providing education from upper kindergarten or first standard (grade) through tenth standard. While the school primarily is English-medium
Medium of instruction
Medium of instruction is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. Where the first language of students is different from the official language, it may be used as the medium of instruction for part or all of schooling. Bilingual or...
, there is also a smaller Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
-medium section that runs in parallel from the fifth to the tenth standard.
The school has had a Parent-Teacher Association
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
since 1964.
History
Holy Family High School was started in 1944 as a parish institution in an old single-storied structure by Fr.Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
Denzil Keating S.J. The school's first headmistress was Maud D'Costa.
In 1963, a new school building adjoining the Holy Family Church was inaugurated. The building was extended in the 1970s to have multiple stories, with new classrooms and a school hall. A mini stadium was built on the old school ground using funds donated by Jitendra Shah. A few years later, the building became too small to cater to the growing number of parishioners. The building was sold and a more spacious one constructed, with its own playground, on a plot of land not far away.
On 22 October 1985, Fr. Lisbert D'Souza, S.J. (Provincial Superior of the Bombay Jesuit Province) blessed the foundation stone of this new school building. On 16 July 1988, Bishop Ferdinand Fonseca blessed the new school building.
On 7 January 1989, under the tenure of Fr. Tony J. D'Souza S.J. as vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
, and Fr. Francis Gonsalves, S.J. as principal, the new school building was formally inaugurated by Simon Cardinal Pimenta, the archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Bombay.
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Old building
The old school building near the Holy Family Church was built and extended with the help of student efforts such as donations, raffles, and school fêteFête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
s. A new hall and classrooms were constructed.
This building lacked facilities such as filtered drinking water and a cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
. It had an inadequate playground and poor facilities for sports. For sports events the Vinayalaya Jesuit seminary grounds behind the school building and church were used.
While established in the old building, the school had female students for a few years. Some were admitted for year 11 science and commerce streams. Earlier in the schools history females were accepted at lower levels as well.
50th anniversary
In 1995, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. There was a grand celebration to mark the event, including a display of fireworks. Among the many present were several of the school's ex-principals. A time capsuleTime capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
containing fifty years of school information was buried at the foot of the Holy Family statue to be reopened in the year 2045.
60th anniversary
In 2005, the school celebrated its 60th anniversary. With the initiative of Principal Fr. Francis Swamy, S.J. and the school's PTA, a five-night fêteFête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
was held on the school's grounds. Special attractions were the presence of celebrities who were present for the occasion. The event was broadcast live on cable TV.
Addition of facilities
In 2005, the school added an amphitheatreAmphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
. In 2009, a semi-olympic size swimming pool was added These projects were undertaken with the initiative of the school PTA.
Academic
Merit cards are presented to students who do well academically. Students who need disciplining are presented with cards at school assemblies, the colour of the card indicating the number of wrongdoings.Policies
In 2004, the school banned the use of plastics by its students, due to environmental concerns associated with the use of most plastics.Disciplinary methods
Some of the school's past principals have been accused of using excessive corporal punishment in the form of caningCaning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
as well as, allegedly, random implements such as hockey sticks and knotted whips, even for minor offenses such as tardiness. Also, teachers used wooden rulers to hit students on hands and knuckles or slapped them as a means of punishment.
More recently, however, the school frowns on the use of corporal punishment. Instead, the services of the school's counselor are used.
Learning
The size of each class exceeds sixty students. Due to this, the quality of teaching can be compromised.Some teachers pushed students to join their private coaching classes.
List of principals
- Fr. Denzil Keating, S.J. (1944-49)
- Fr. Julius Gomes, S.J. (1949-51)
- Fr. Fred Britto, S.J. (1951-52)
- Fr. H Jiminez, S.J. (1952-60)
- Fr. Basil Fernandes, S.J. (1960-66)
- Fr. Joe D'Abreo, S.J. (1966-68)
- Fr. Henry D'Cruz, S.J. (1968-70)
- Fr. Percy D'Souza, S.J. (1970-71)
- Fr. Valero Aleu, S.J. (1971-74)
- Fr. Joe D'Abreo, S.J. (1974-77)
- Fr. Joaquim Mascarenhas, S.J. (1977-80)
- Fr. Sebastian Fernandes, S.J. (1980-82)
- Fr. Joaquim Mascarenhas, S.J. (1982-86)
- Fr. Edmund Carrasco, S.J. (1986-88)
- Fr. Francis Gonsalves, S.J. (1988-90)
- Fr. Tony Fonseca, S.J. (1990-95)
- Fr. Joaquim Mascarenhas, S.J. (1995-98)
- Dr. Fr. Francis Swamy, S.J. (1998-present)