St. Mary's School, Mumbai

St. Mary's School I.C.S.E.
Address
Nesbit Road, Mazagaon Mumbai , Maharashtra India
Coordinates	18°58′9.29″N 72°50′9.22″E
Information
Type	Private secondary school
Motto	Latin: Immaculata
Established	1864; 160 years ago (1864)
Principal	Clementine Monteiro
Faculty	175
Grades	Junior Preparatory to Class 10
Gender	Boys
Enrollment	1680
Houses	Ashoka (blue), Gandhi (white), Shivaji (red), Tagore (green)
Colour(s)	Blue, green, red and white
Song	St. Mary's Boys!
Sports	Football, cricket, basketball, table tennis, badminton, athletics
Publication	The School Tie
Alumni	Old Marians
Website	www.stmarysicse.com

St. Mary's School, Mumbai or St. Mary's School I.C.S.E, is a private Catholic secondary school for boys, soon to turn into a co-education school, located in Mazagaon, Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, India.[1] Founded by the Jesuits in 1864, the school is affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). The school is amongst the oldest, continually running, private schools in India. It is also ranked amongst the top elite day schools in the country.[2][3]

History

St. Mary's School was founded in 1864 by members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. The school is located adjacent to St. Anne's Church which was established in 1860. The school began as a Catholic school of education and a military orphanage. Later it opened to the Catholic populace in general, which led to expansion and to the construction of the building that now houses the senior school, whose foundation stone was laid by Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943.[4] At present, the school has four Gothic-style buildings and is divided into Senior School (grades 5 and above) and Junior School (grades 4 and below). The school offers various sports facilities to the students, which include a gymnasium, basketball arena, and two grass turfed football grounds.

In 1933, St. Mary's High School SSC was carved out of the main St. Mary's School – which at the time offered the British General Certificate of Education to offer students the opportunity to focus on completion of the Secondary School Certificate.[5] St. Mary's switched to the ICSE Indian Certificate of Secondary Education curriculum in the year 1958 – thereby, becoming one of the early adopters of the system.[6] The school re-commenced offering the Indian School Certificate diploma (equivalent to the Cambridge A-Level) in 2021.

In recognition of its contribution in the field of education the Chief Postmaster General for Maharashtra released a special postal cover commemorating the school's 150th anniversary on 7 December 2013.[7]

St. Mary's has continually been ranked amongst the top schools of the country. As per Education World's 2021–2022 survey, the school is ranked 2nd nationwide in the category of 'Day School for Boys'.[8]

Students are encouraged in the arts and sports. Many amongst the school's alumni have flourished in theatre, music, and Bollywood.^[citation needed]

Principals

The following individuals have served as principal of the school:[9]

• Fr. Pereira, S.J, ??-1982^[citation needed]
• Fr. Casale, S.J., 1982-1991^[citation needed]
• Fr. Joe Saldanha, S.J., 1991–1995
• Fr. Joe Diabrio, 1995
• Fr. Evarist Newnes, S.J., 1997–2009
• Alice Carvalho, 2009–2011
• Fr. Dr. Kenneth Misquitta, S.J., 2011–2015
• Fr. Dr. Francis Swamy, S.J., 2015–2021
• Clementine Monteiro, 2021–present

Notable alumni

Business and economics

• Dilip Abreu – Princeton economist
• Azim Premji – Chairman of Wipro Limited[10]
• Gautam Singhania – Chairman & MD of the Raymond Group[11]

Law

• Joseph 'Kaka' Baptista – barrister, unionist, political activist, founder of the Indian Home Rule movement, and Mayor of Bombay[12]
• A. G. Noorani – lawyer, constitutional expert and political commentator^[citation needed]
• Homer Pithawalla – leading expert in corporate law and competition law; Professor of Law at Government Law College, Mumbai
• Goolam Essaji Vahanvati – Attorney General of India[10]

Literature

• Homi K. Bhabha – professor at Harvard University[10]
• Dom Moraes – writer and poet[10]

Performing arts

• Sooraj Barjatya – Hindi film director[10]
• Tushar Hiranandani – Hindi film director[10]
• Boman Irani – theatre and Bollywood actor[10]
• Arjun Mathur – Bollywood actor
• Zubin Mehta – orchestral conductor[10][13]
• Freddie Mercury – singer, songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Queen[10]
• Sorabh Pant – stand-up comedian
• Farukh Sheikh – Bollywood actor
• Vinod Khanna – Bollywood actor
• Kunal Vijaykar – actor and director[10]

Medicine

• Ritam Chowdhury – physician, epidemiologist, biostatistician, writer, poet, Harvard faculty member
• Tehemton Erach Udwadia – gastroenterologist[14][15]

Sports

• Shishir Hattangadi – Bombay cricket captain[16]
• Vijay Mohanraj – Ranji Trophy cricketer for Mumbai[17]
• Rehan Poncha – Olympic swimmer (2008 Beijing Summer Olympics), Arjuna Awardee [10]
• Adille Sumariwalla – Olympic sprinter (1980 Moscow Summer Olympics), Arjuna Awardee
• Rajesh Sanghi - Ranji Trophy Cricket for Rajasthan

Science

• Vijay Balasubramanian – theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania[18]

See also

• List of Jesuit schools
• List of schools in Mumbai
• Violence against Christians in India

References

1. "St Mary's conquer Don Bosco". Indian Express. 29 September 1998.
2. "Education World India School Rankings 2018–19: Mumbai schools lead in India-wide ranking". 8 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
3. "HT Top Schools survey: The 10 best schools in Mumbai". 3 September 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
4. "St. Mary's High School ICSE". Bombay Jesuits. 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
5. "St. Mary's High School SSC". Bombay Jesuits. 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
6. "90-year-old south Mumbai school switches to ICSE".
7. "Indian Philately Digest : News : November 2013".
8. "EW India School Rankings 2021–22 – Top & best schools in India". EducationWorld. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
9. "Principals". St Mary's School (ICSE). 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. Section Principals
10. "The incubator of excellence". mid-day. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
11. "The Best of Two Worlds: Gautam Singhania @ Fifty – Marwar". Marwar. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
12. Wangchuk, Rinchen Norbu (18 March 2019). "Kaka Baptista: Unsung hero freedom struggle". The Better India. Vikara Services Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
13. "Zubin Mehta launches St Mary's School 150th year celebrations". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
14. "Four Runners profile". Four Runners Healthcare. 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
15. "Dr. Tehemton Erach Udwadia (Mumbai)". Indian Med Guru. 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
16. "Pedigree shouldn't be ignored, says Hattangadi". mid-day. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
17. "Guru with a difference". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
18. University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences. "Vijay Balasubramanian". Retrieved 8 July 2019.

External links

• "IQBAL CHAGLA | Lawyers Update". www.web.lawyersupdate.co.in. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
• "Zubin Mehta to launch St Mary's School 150th year celebrations in Mumbai". India Today. Retrieved 20 May 2018.