Sophia High School
| tapas patro | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 70 Palace Road Bangalore Karnataka 560 001 India |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Motto | Truth and Universal Love |
| Established | 1949 |
| Number of students | 2,000+ |
| Color(s) | Beige and Brown |
| Affiliation | School Sisters of Notre Dame |
| Information | 080-22355565 |
Sophia High School is a private school in Bangalore, India. The middle and high schools are girls-only while the primary school is co-educational.
Contents |
[edit] History
Sophia High School is located on 10 acres (40,000 m2) in central Bangalore overlooking the Vidhan Soudha and the Bangalore golf course.
In August 1948 when the Internuncio and the Apostolic Delegation shifted to New Delhi, his residence and grounds was taken over by a group of Catholic nuns called the Sisters of Notre Dame. In January 1949, three pioneers of the order, Mother Catherine Andersson, Mother Ivy Bourke and Sister Dorothy Bullen decided to open a school at the only residential building on the grounds, the old "white bungalow". A small Montessori class with 17 students and one qualified teacher was established. About 40% of the students admitted were not Indian nationals.
Since 1949 Sophia's has grown significantly. The old "white bunglow" was remodelled in 1998. The school's current enrollment is over 2,000 students. The school is not a religious organization and its students, who are chosen through a competitive interview process, hail from many different ethnicities.
[edit] Academics
Sophia's prepares students for the 10th grade national ICSE examinations. The school also prepares students for the 12th grade national ISC examination conducted by the Council for ISC Examination, New Delhi. The medium of instruction is English. It is also one of the hardest schools to gain admission to, with lines snaking outside the gates of the school during sales of admission forms.
As with any first-class high school, Sophia's has a superlative college placement record. The majority of graduates regularly attend some of the best colleges and universities in India and around the world, such as the IITs, NID, BITS Pilani, Delhi School of Economics, St. Stephen's College, the St Xavier's Colleges in Bombay and Calcutta, Lady Shri Ram College, the Ivy League universities in USA and many others.
Sophia has a history of excelling at cultural, literary and sports activities. Extracurricular activities and talents are encouraged enthusiastically as part of the regular school routine and Sophiaites are widely regarded as Bangalore's best in terms of theatre, music and dance. Sophia currently has Bangalore's best girls' basketball team. It also has what is widely considered to be the best Throwball team in Bangalore, and are the defending champions in five tournaments.
Sophia has held many concerts over the years, to raise funds for various causes. A production of The King And I was held in Chowdiah Memorial Hall in 2002. They did a rendition of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, in 2006, which was held to raise funds for the construction of the Auditorium block of the school. It was held at the Bishop Cottons Boys High School Auditorium. In 2010, the school did a musical version of the Disney movie, Mulan. It was the first concert to be held in the school's own auditorium and was held to raise money for the construction of a school in rural Karanataka.
[edit] The house system
Apart from academics, students are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of co-curricular activities. Activities and competitions within the school are conducted in cohorts or "houses". These houses are named after the founder members of the school, with the Julie House being changed from the Duschene House after the Notre Dame Sisters took over from the Sacred Heart sisters.
- Andersson - golden house
- Barat - red house
- Bennett - lavender or purple house
- Julie - green house
[edit] School Motto and School Song
The school follows the motto of 'Truth And Universal Love', which they expect all their students to strive to achieve. The School Song was written by one of the founder members of the school, Mother Anderson. It reflects the motto of the school.
[edit] Prominent Graduates
[edit] National figures
- Ravina Raj Kohli, CEO, Channel 9
[edit] Athletes
- Nisha Millet, swimmer who was the “wonder girl in Indian swimming” at the age of 15
- Shikha Tandon, swimmer who has represented the country at several prestigious competitions all over the world
- Nisha Ann Reginald, National basketball player
[edit] Models and Actors
Deepika Padukone, Bina Rajagopal (Chaithali - Kannada)
[edit] Dancers
[edit] Activists
- Vidya Pai, Animal Welfare, LGBT Rights
- Anjali Padmarajan, Lawyer (Min. Wage Earners)
- Dr. Shiela Rao, Founder, CUPA, Animal Welfare
- Sudha S Narayanan, CUPA, Animal Welfare
- Chitra Narayanan, CUPA, Animal Welfare
- Nandini Alva, Art
- Namita Kulkarni, Art
[edit] The Sophia Opportunity School
Sophia's Opportunity School branch educates specially abled children. This branch also undertakes social action out reach programs, such as work with a street children’s home in Chamrajpet, interaction with the women inmates of Bangalore's Central Jail, a day in rural schools in the Bangalore metro and visits to aged and orphan homes in the area.
[edit] Buildings
There are five main buildings; Cuvilly(middle school), Duschene(high school), Julie(pre-primary), Barat(primary) and the ISC block(+2). The Cuvilly building houses the enormous auditorium, a new venture which has proven to be hugely successful. It was formerly known as the Mater Building.
[edit] Principals
(Current) Sister Mary Priscilla, Sister Mary Rosilin,(Primary) Sister Mary Nayana.(Opportunity)
(Recent Formers) Sister Mary Sandhya, Sister Mary Aneeta, (Primary)
[edit] Charity Work
The school does a lot of charity work, in various ways. They help teach the residents of the Angel orphange, with students of the +2 section voluntaring to help teach them after the normal working school hours. The school also supports various organisations like HelpAge India, Global Cancer Concern India, the Smile foundation and many more. The school concert, a production of 'Mulan', was held to raise money to build a school in a rural area of Andhra Pradesh. The school does not take any donations in the respect of admissions, but take the voluntary donations of the parents of the students and utilize them to help various charity organisations.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
