St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun
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| St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun. | |
 | |
| Motto | Laborare Est Orare (Work is Worship) |
| Location | Rajpur Road Dehradun – 248001 India |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Governing body | The Patrician Brothers |
| Principal | Rev. Bro. Babu Varghese |
| Students | Josephites |
| Pupils | 3500 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Houses | 4 |
| Academic year | April–March |
| Affiliation | CICSE |
| Publications | The Academician (Annual) The SJA Epistle (tri-annual) |
| Website | http://stjosephacademy.in/ |
St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun (or SJA) is a co-educational Indian Certificate of Secondary Education school in Dehradun, the capital of the state of Uttarakhand in India. Founded in 1934, the school is governed by the Society of the Brothers of St. Patrick (Ireland). It is located in the heart of the city of Dehradun on the main thoroughfare Rajpur Road.
St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun celebrated the bicentenary of the Patrician Society and the school's 75th anniversary in 2009.
History
St. Joseph’s Academy was formally opened and blessed on 2 March , 1934 by Rev. Fr. Antanasius. Rev. Bro. A.M. Keogh was the first principal of SJA. When it opened its doors the roll-call was 21; in 1959, over a thousand students were attending the school. At present, the school boasts of a student strength of 3400 and 120 teachers.
St. Joseph’s Academy has an auditorium, built in 1984 and inaugurated by Mother Teresa. The auditorium has a sitting capacity of nearly 1300 and has one of the best acoustic systems in the town.
In 2004 St. Joseph's completed 70 years, to commemorate the occasion, the play ‘Peter Pan’ was staged. The musical 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was staged in 2006 and on the 80th anniversary the musical 'Anandsagar' was staged.
Motto
The school motto (Latin) is "Laborare Est Orare", which means "Work is Worship".
School song
How fair is the far spreading vale of the Doon
In clear sparkling sunshine or darkling monsoon,
But the spot we love best of the beauty spots there
Is St. Joseph’s the pride of the valley so fair?
She calls us to loyalty, honour and truth,
To wear Joseph’s lily in bright blameless youth,
And e’en to old age may her lessons remain,
To live our lives bravely and die without stain
Let our voices ring out o’er the Doon’s verdant vale,
In a jubilant shout, as we tell the proud tale
Of the name and the fame of the best school of all,
Of our dear Alma Mater and answer her call,
So Academicians in work and in play,
You’ll swiftly and happily pass each glad day,
Of the years bright and brief that will end all too soon
In St. Joseph’s the pearl of the vale of the Doon.
Academics
The school is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. The school conducts the standard 10th ICSE and the standard 12th ISC examinations.
SJA offers education from Kindergarten to Class 12th, with five to six sections in each class. Students have a choice to study Science or Commerce after Class 8th. SJA students have topped the country at ICSE (10th boards) and ISC (12th Boards) several times. Most recently, Bhuvanya Vijay was the all India ISC topper in 2013 with 99% marks.
House system
The student body is divided into four different houses. This is done to cultivate in the students a sense of competitiveness, dedication and teamwork. Events such as Cultural Week(CONFLUENCE), the Sports-Day and the House Cup are held in the year.
The four houses of the school are:
- Bergin (Blue)
- Donovan (Yellow)
- Dooley (Green)
- Duffy (Red)
The houses are named after the former Principals of the school.
Extracurricular activities
- DEBSOC
- Dance Activity (Mr. Dev)
- Editorial Board 'The Academician' (Mrs. Shruti Seth Gulati, Ms. Rekha Tandon)
- Editorial Board 'The SJA Epistle' (Mrs. Navneet Ganguly, Mrs. Sonia Bhatt)
- Music Club (Mr. Sumit Dogra)
- Quiz Club (Mr. S.S. Kandari)
- Tech Board (Mr. Rajesh Ahuja)
Cultural week
Cultural Week is the cultural extravaganza that puts every students talent to test. A multi-day event, it was first a non-competitive show wherein students performed in events such music, dramatics, dance, debate, and G.K. Quizzes. It was changed to a 3–4 days, Inter-House competitive event in 1996.
Discontinued for a few years, a Cultural Week was organized on the 75th anniversary of the school, in 2009. Bro. A.J. George restarted the tradition of the cultural week and now it is a biennial event.
Now this event has been renamed as 'CONFLUENCE' since the year 2017. It is now the most awaited event of the School Calender.
Sports
SJA has the largest sports field in the state of Uttrakhand. The sporting facilities of the school are excellent, it has teams for cricket, football, basketball, hockey, lawn tennis, table tennis, badminton, volleyball and chess. Students compete in inter-house events as well as inter-school events. The school teams have won inter-school competitions hosted by the Board as well as district tournaments, with players of the school going on to play at the state and national level.
Sports Day
The Annual Athletics Meet events are short races (100m, 200m, 400m), long races (800m, 1500m), javelin, short-put, long-jump, high jump and relay races. Students participate in the categories of Sub-juniors, Juniors, and Seniors. The final event of the day is the cycle race. The school awards trophies for individual performance followed by the inter-house shield; awarded to the house with maximum points on the day.
Student Council
The Student Council has 28 members. Council members are chosen by the faculty and principal. Members lead their houses in inter-house and inter-school events throughout the year. The breakdown is as follows:
- 2 House prefects (1 male, 1 female). Appointed in class 12, on basis of academic achievements.
- 2 Sports prefects (1 male, 1 female). Appointed in class 12, on basis of athletic performance in the Sports Day, or any other sports-related achievements such as being a national- or international-level player.
- 1 Cultural prefect (Male or Female). Appointed in class 12, on basis of cultural contributions to the house, such as representing the school in inter-school events, or the Cultural Week
- 2 Vice prefects (1 male, 1 female). Appointed in class 11, if he has shown to have potential to be a prefect or head boy/girl in the future. Usually on basis of academic achievement.
In addition to these, there is a Head Boy and Head Girl.
First ranked day school in Uttarakhand
In 2011 a survey was conducted by ‘Education World’ of 400 leading schools across the country, based on 14 criteria. Representatives of schools from all over India attended their awards function ‘India’s Most Respected Schools Survey Awards 2011’ which was held on 17 September 2011 at The LaLiT, New Delhi. The awards were given in the following categories:
- International Schools
- Boarding Schools
- Day Schools
St. Joseph’s Academy was awarded the First Ranked Day School in Uttarakhand.
In 2012 SJA had the best Boards result since 1934, in both the ICSE and ISC examinations. In the ICSE 2011 examination, out of the 249 students who appeared, 220 received distinctions, and 119 students secured above 90% with 98% being the school’s highest. In the ISC 2011 examination, out of the 209 students who appeared, 194 received distinction, and 79 students secured above 90% with 97.5% being the school’s highest. In the ISC 2013 examinations, former Head Girl, Bhuvanya Vijay, topped the examination on an All-India basis with a percentage of 99%.
Notable teachers
Mr. G.C. Gupta was a renowned senior Science teacher, who taught 11th and 12th classes for about 35 years from 1945 to about 1980. He taught both Physics and Chemistry subjects. His book on General Physics (first published in 1949) was a standard book for Physics students from class sixth to board level for over three decades.
Notable alumni
The school has an official alumni association that has its own website.
- Prahlad Kakkar - Founder and key Directors for Genesis Film Productions, an Indian production houses, established in 1977.
- Vijai Singh Shekhawat - Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy.
- Navtej Singh Sarna-Indian Foreign Service officer
- Jubin Nautiyal - Indian playback singer
- Abhimanyu Easwaran-First class cricketer
- Anirudh Thapa-India under 19 football team captain