St. Joseph Higher Secondary School

St. Joseph Higher Secondary School

File:St Joseph higher secondary badge.jpg Seal of St. Joseph
Former names	St. Joseph English Medium School, St. Joseph High School, St. Joseph High School and College
Motto	Advancing in wisdom and virtue
Type	Catholic Missionary School
Established	1954
Location	Dhaka , Bangladesh
Campus	97 Asad Avenue, Mohammadpur, Dhaka
Affiliations	Congregation of Holy Cross, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka
Website	sjs.edu.bd
File:St joseph logo (unofficial).jpg

The school buildings

St. Joseph Higher Secondary School is a Catholic secondary school in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1954 as the "St. Joseph English Medium School" in 16 Monir Hossain Lane, Narinda in the current old part of Dhaka by the Congregation of Holy Cross missionaries, the institution had a General Certificate of Education (GCE) based education structure. The school moved to its current location in 1965.

After the liberation war of Bangladesh, the medium of instruction in Saint Joseph High School changed to Bangla. In 1973 the last of the Cambridge groups took their examinations, as the school integrated itself into the government regulated secondary education system in Bangladesh, although it is still recognized for its emphasis on teaching English. However, the institution has both English and Bangla medium based education for secondary level.

Higher Secondary Education had also been introduced in Saint Joseph, changing the name of the institution to "Saint Joseph Higher Secondary School". The school is recognized by the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The average graduating class from Saint Joseph each year has 130 to 140 students. It is a boys' school and the students are known as Josephites.

The school has a beautiful campus of 3.5 acres with many species of trees and plants. It has a play-ground for soccer, basketball, cricket, volleyball, badminton and so on. The school basketball court also serves as a multipurpose auditorium. The alumni of the school have formed the Saint Joseph Old Boys Foundation (SJOBF), which organizes events and programs. Saint Joseph is run under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka.

Notable academic results

• During the ten years of Cambridge, 233 boys took the overseas examination and 98% passed with over 60% in the first division.
• Eight positions (including the first position, Khaled Sobhan) in the merit list among approximately 100 graduating students in 1980.

  

  A portion of the north building

• Three positions (including the fifth position) in the merit list among approximately 100 graduating students in 1991 before MCQ system.
• Eight positions (including the first position) in the merit list and 50 Stars among approximately 100 graduating students in 1992.
• Five positions (including the third position) in the merit list among approximately 80 graduating students in 1995.
• Highest percentage of GPA 5.0 in S.S.C. Examination in 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010.
• Notable percentage of GPA 5.0 in J.S.C Examination in 2010.
• Notable percentage of GPA 5.0 in S.S.C Examination in 2011.

Achievements

• Introduction of basketball in Bangladesh.
• Introduction of parliamentary format debate in Bangladesh.
• Established the first High School Level Science Club of Bangladesh in 1957.
• Formed the first High School Level Debating Club in Bangladesh in 1969.
• Venue partner of first ever All-Asians university debate competition held in Bangladesh in 2008.
• Pioneer school in the British Council global schooling scheme partnered with the Park View School of the UK since 2006.
• 13 Gold medals won in 2007, 20 Gold Medals in 2008 IAS exams held by University of New South Wales, highest in the country.
• Regional topper in the South-Asian region, in the 2009 IAS exams.
• Champion of Horlicks Genius Bangladesh in 2005, 2006, 2007.
• Champion of First Division School Handball League in the very first appearance.
• Champion of Dhaka Division School Football League in 2010
• Champion of Mohammedpur Thana School Football League in 2011
• Champion of First Pran Inter-School Football Tournament
• U-21 Basketball Champions 2010,2011

English Version

The school initiated the English Version wing in 2006, with class 6, section 'Polar Bears', who passed their S.S.C. exam in 2009. The English Version is simply the national curriculum with the names, types and entire contents of all the textbooks kept the same, but translated into English. Everyone of this first English Version batch' scored GPA 5.00 in their S.S.C. exams, with 11 of them accomplishing the act without the marks of fourth subject.

Literacy School

Beside the general educational system, the school also provides education for underprivileged children, known as the "Literacy School". The classes go into session after the regular classes break. Although the administration is the same for both the schools, the literacy classes and activities are conducted under a different faculty, and has no affiliation with the regular branch of the school. Students of the regular school often volunteer as teachers for the literacy school.

Head masters and Principals

• Brother Jude Costello, C.S.C. (1954–1962)
• Brother Gerald Kraeger, C.S.C. (1963–1967)
• Brother Thomas O'Linn C.S.C. (1967–1969)
• Brother Ralph Baird, C.S.C (1969 - 1972 and 1979 - 1985)
• Brother John Stephen, C.S.C. (1985–1987)
• Brother Thomas Moore, C.S.C. (1973 - 1978 and 1987 - 1988)
• Brother Nicholas Thielman, C.S.C. (1987–1989)
• Brother John Rozario, C.S.C. (1990–2007) (Principal Emeritus)
• Brother Leo James Pereira, C.S.C. (2007–2011)
• Brother B. Harold Rodriguez, C.S.C. (2011-present)

Past and current faculties

Starting its journey with a handful of American Brothers from Congregation of Holy Cross, the school received the services of a large number of teachers both before and after integrating itself with the secondary education system in Bangladesh. The current faculty consists of 50 Secondary Section teachers, 25 Higher Secondary Section teachers, a counselor, two Prefects of Discipline', two librarians, ten office staffs, two sports instructors, and individual coaches for the soccer, basketball and cricket teams. Brother N. Hubert Rozario C.S.C is the Vice-principal of the school.

Starting its journey only with a handful of Brothers from Congregation of Holy Cross, the school received services of a large number of teachers both before and after integrating itself with the secondary education system in Bangladesh. Late Mr. Fazlur Rahman Late Mr. Abdul Mannan Sarkar Late Mr. A. Sattar Late Mr. Mahtab Hossain Mr. Benjamin Rozario (retired) Br. Dominic Mree (retired) Mr. Moinuddin Ahmed (retired in 2001) Mrs. Lucille Sadekin (retired in 2005) Mr. Bidhubhushan Paul (retired) Mr. Joseph Modhu (retired) Mrs. Hosne Ara Biswas (retired in 2006) Mrs. Suraiya Akhtar (retired in 2006) Mrs. Afifa M. M. Ahmed (retired) Mr. Abdul Bari Mridha (retired) Mr. George Gomes (retired in 2007) Mr. Milton Das (left) Mr. Zulfikar Ali Zabur(left) Mr. Mathews Mandez Mr. Albert A. Golder (retired in 2006) Mrs. Nishat Jahan Mr. Raihan Uddin Ahmed (retired in 2007) Mrs. Rehana Begum Mr. Keshob Chandra Chakrabarty Mr. Suvankar Dutta Mr. Phanindra Chandra Banik Mrs. Nargis Labib Mrs. Sabera Khanam Mr. Harashit Biswas Mr. Francis P. Rozario Mrs. Charlotte Rozanov Mr. Krishno Pada Chakroborty Mr. Anil Kumer Mallick Mr. Mahmudar Rahman Mr. Md. Farid Uddin Mr. Amit Kumer Baroi Mr. Isodor Palma Mr. Leonard Vincent Gomes Mr. Uttom Halder Mr. Asifur Rahman Mr. Aminul Ahsan Mr. Ariful Kabir Mr. Amit Anjus Mrs. Shibani Halder Mrs. Rabeya Rahman Hena Buddhiman Mrs. Lauisa Sarder Mr. Md. Azizur Rahman Br. Nipu Hubert Rozario (Vice-Principal) (2007) Ms. Lipi Daisy Gregory (2005) Br. James Sarker (2005) Mr. Amit E. Anjus (2005) Mr. Prodip Kumer Samaddar (2007) Mrs. Toma Samaddar (2006) Ms. Ahmed Zeenat Hossain (2006) Mr. Swapan Kumer Mistry (1999) Mr. Khairul Bashar Mr. Sudeb Chandra Paul (2000) Mr. Motasim Billah (Lipon) (2008) Mr. Debbrota Kumar Biswas Mr. Alok Kumar Das (2008) Mr. Chinmoy Mallick

Selection of students

Students are generally chosen for Grade 3 through an admission test. The students who score the highest are admitted in the school. Generally around 165 students from a total of 1500-2000 are admitted each year, around fifty-five for each three section.

Grades/classes

Instead of Section 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C etc, St. Joseph uses names for its sections of grades. There are three sections for grades 3 - 10, and there are six sections for grades 11 - 12. In the school section, each class contains 50-60 students. Below is a complete list:

Secondary section

• Grade 3: Eagles, Hawks, Falcons
• Grade 4: Lions, Tigers, Mountain Lions
• Grade 5: Hornets, Wasps, Drones
• Grade 6: Bears, Wildcats, Polar Bears
• Grade 7: Jaguars, Leopards, Panthers
• Grade 8: Comets, Meteors, Asteroids
• Grade 9: Jets, Concords, Rockets
• Grade 10: Giants, Stars, Titans

Higher-secondary section

• Grade 11: Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Vulcan, Mars
• Grade 12: Pluto, Phobos, Uranus, Earth,, Diebos, Neptune

Lab facilities

One of the chemistry labs

St. Joseph has some of the best high school lab facilities in the country. The Biology labs and the chemistry labs are well-equipped and large in size. Some external schools and educational institutions as Edexcel use these facilities for their students. Facilities include two computer labs equipped with multimedia projectors, a separate internet lab, two advanced chemistry labs, two physics labs and two biology labs. Of each of the chemistry, physics and biology labs one is used by the secondary students and the other is by higher secondary students. The chemistry, physics, and the biology lab for the secondary students are located at the 2nd floor of the north building. The chemistry lab for the higher secondary students is at the 3rd floor whereas the physics and the biology lab are at the 4th floor of the north building.

Extracurricular units

• Scintilla Science Club, established 1957

  

  The south building, viewed from the soccer field

• Josephite Debating Club (JDC), established 1969
• Josephite Chess Club (JCC)
• Josephite Global Schooling Group, established 2006
• Josephite Interact Club (JIC)
• Josephite Cultural Forum (JCF), established 1993
• St. Joseph Boy Scouts
• Josephite Language and Reading Club (JLRC)
• Josephite drama group (JDG)
• Josephite Business Club (JBC)

  

  The soccer field with the basketball court in the distance

• Josephites Soccer Team
• Josephites Basketball team
• Josephites Cricket team
• Josephites Handball team
• Josephites Volleyball team

Besides the numerous clubs and forums in the school regular sports activities under properly qualified multiple sports faculties take place. Soccer, basketball and cricket gets top priority. Regular renovation of school grounds help maintain the quality and the healthy environment for students.

Notable alumni

• Manam Ahmed - member of Miles
• Feisal Siddiqi Bogey - ex-member of Renaissance
• Nakib Khan - Renaissance
• Niaz Morshed - Grand Master of chess, Batch 1983.
• Shihan Monirul Islam - Notun Kuri Champion 1988 - Batch - 1991
• Aasif Ridwan Khan - Architect - Leading Architect in UK, Norway, Bangladesh. {BUET; GSE,UK}
• Ziaur Rahman (chess player)(born 1974) - chess player from Bangladesh and the second Grandmaster.
• Rifat Bin Sattar - Grand Master of chess, Batch 1990
• Anwar Zahid- coordinator and principal engineer of the ever-largest project in US civil work, former Associate Professor, BUET.('88)
• Kazi Mahmood Sattar - President, Association of Banker's Bangladesh, MD and CEO, The City Bank Limited and Eastern Bank Limited.'74
• Zia Wadud- Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), currently Associate Professor, BUET.('90)
• Mahbuboor Rahman Choudhury-Lecturer-(on leave),Department of Civil Engineering, BUET, currently in Carnegie Mellon University('98)
• Rashiduddin Ahmed -neurosurgeon.
• Nasser Rahman- Chairman and Managing Director at DuSai Hotel and Resorts Ltd.(Batch'79)
• Shahriar Nafis- batsman, Bangladesh National Cricket Team.
• Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal - guitarist, Warfaze.
• Imran Rahman - member of Renaissance
• Babna - ex-member of Warfaze
• Russel - ex-member of Warfaze
• Tahsan - ex-member of Black, present-solo artist
• Meraj - ex-member of Black, Batch 1999
• Nahian - member of Powersurge and Severe Dementia, Batch 2001

Year Book

• The Josephite (students)
• The Josephite Teacher's Edition (teachers)

External links

• Directory of Holycross Congregation-run institutions
• SJOBA (St. Joseph Old Boys' Association)
• Josephite Batch 89 alumni portal
• Alumni forum
• Josephite Global Schooling Group