School History

About Our School [History] :

The St. Anthony’s High School has a long history of 120 years with ups and downs. However, the development of the school has been linear just as that of the city of destiny, Visakhapatnam. From the very humble beginning in the year 1893, this great institution has been shaped by many great men of vision into one of the premier educational institutions of Andhra Pradesh. The school has established a reputation for instilling the desire for knowledge in the young minds and at the same time prepared these young men to face the world through a sense of discipline. The alumni of this institution wherever they have been and whatever position they have occupied either high or low, have won the laurels as persons of sterling honesty, a quality given the utmost importance in the curricular and extra-curricular activities of the school.

The St. Anthony’s High School which began in an almost unrecognized state of a small “Mandapam” now occupied an impressive 11.5 Acres in the heart of the city. Nearly one third of the area is set aside for play grounds. There are 21 class rooms, a huge and well-furnished drama-stage and a large assembly hall. There are two laboratories with all necessary equipment, a weaving hall and a well-furnished Library in the making. The school also has facilities for a number of games which can be played in the large play grounds that are available. The students are given opportunities to join in the Junior Red Cross[JRC], The N.C.C., and Scouting besides other literary associations and mould their character and achieve an all-round development. The school which started with 24 students and a single teacher now has strength of neatly 1000 students and 30 staff members.

Early Beginning :

Approximately 120 years ago i.e. in the year 1893, our school had originated in a small “Mandapam” of Sivalayam in Maharanipeta Sri P. Appalanarasayya Patnaik started this famous school with infant and first standards. For over 30 years our school had no name until Rt.Rev.Dr.Peter Rossaillon, the then Bishop of Visakhapatnam took notice of the school. He was much impressed by the keen interest of the teacher and his taught in the pursuit of education.

On 15th September, 1923, Rt.Rev.Dr.Peter Rossaillon took over the management of the school from Sri. P. Appalanarasayya Patnaik and shifted it to an old building cast to the residence of Sri Baugmall Sowcar. This building is still present in the premises of Hotel Green Park[Old Apsara Hotel]. The school was named as R.C.M. St. Anthony’s Elementary School and with strength of 24 students. Sri K. Neeladri Rao was appointed as the first Headmaster and Sri P. Appalanarasayya Patnaik as the first teacher. Sri K. Neeladri Rao introduced III and IV standards. In 1924 Sri D. Somanna was appointed as Headmaster and he added standard V.

In 1925 Rt.Rev.Dr.Peter Rossaillon appointed Rev.Fr. J.B. Gonthier to be incharge of the school before he left to Europe. Under Fr. J.B. Gonthier and the enthusiastic headmastership of Sri D. Somanna, the school had considerably improved in standards and strength. In the year 1926 our school was converted into R.C.M. St. Anthony’s Higher Elementary School with the introduction of Standard VI by Rev.Fr. J.B. Gonthier and he also introduced VII in the year 1927 and shifted to the Elementary school building with the increased strength.

In 1928 Rev.Fr.J. Bouchet was appointed as the incharge and he introduced standard VIII. Under Rev.Fr.J. Bouchet’s able management, the discipline of the school improved by leaps and bounds and it reached its peak of its academic efficiency which resulted in achieving 100% results and accredited as the best in 1928 and 1929 by DEO. In the same year his highness Sri Vikram Deo Varma, Maharaja of Jeypore visited our school and wrote noble words of appreciation. The True words “ I visited this school on Wednesday, the 3rd April, 1929. The building and its compound are spacious and excellent. The attendance of the pupils is good. The management and the staff are taking keen interest. I shall be glad if the institution becomes a secondary school. In 1930 Rt.Rev. E. Chevallet was appointed as the incharge and the school has achieved remarkable results during his time.

In 1933 Rev. Fr. P.F. Andrade became Headmaster and Correspondent. In 1933 R.C.M St. Anthony’s Higher middle school was converted into R.C.M. St. Anthony’s Middle school comprising the standards of IV, V, VI, VII and VIII was inaugurated by Sri. Bhupathiraju Venkatapathi Raju. During the period of Rev. Fr. P.F. Andrade, for the first time the old students had joined together and formed as an association. In 1935 Rev. Fr. P.F. Andrade appealed the public for donations fund the need to have a permanent building for St. Anthony’s Middle School in the 3rd annual function presided by Sri. Rao Bhadur Durvasula Srirama Sastry, BA, ML, Government Pleader and public prosecutor. Scouting was introduced in the year 1936-37 and Sri. M. Lakshminaryana as the scout master. For the first time microphones and loud speakers were used in our school on 24-11-1938.

In the year 1940, the foundation stone[Cement marble slab] was solemnly blessed by Rt.Rev.Dr.Peter Rossaillon, the then Bishop of Visakhapatnam. A bottle containing 1940 coins was embedded in the foundation with an inscription “In the year of our redemption 1940, pepe pius XII reigning of Rome, George VI being the king of England, Europe and of India”. The foundation stone was laid when the world war II “Between British, French and Nazi Germany” was going on. The main building was ready within a year and the secondary section of the school was shifted to the new building on 29-01-1941 and formally inaugurated by Sir C.R.Reddy the then Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University on 19-03-1941. The Building was constructed in one year at a cost of Rs.38,000/-. The whole building was of reinforced cement concrete and the walls were built with 8” hollow blocks in cement, manufactured specially by the management. There is not a single iron girder in the entire building. The span of each slab is 23’ x 21’. This was the only school building of its kind in the whole of Madras Province at that time. Sri P.G.Krishna Murthy, M.E. specialist in Reinforced concrete, personally supervised the construction and he was honored with a gold medal. The main building had 14 class rooms and a permanent stage with unique amphitheater, designed by Rev.Fr.J. Baud.

In 1943 Rev.Fr.Soma Shoury Reddy became the Headmaster. This year Golden Jubilee was Celebrated in respect of Rt. Rev.Bishop P. Rossillon, the founder of St. Anthony’s School, Landed in India in the year 1893. Rt. Rev.Bishop P. Rossillon who was strongly dedicated to the development of the school had a strong desire for the school to be upgraded into a high school. Permission to start the high school classes was granted in 1946 and thus For IV was opened. Rev.Br.Devraj appointed as Headmaster in 1946.

The most sorrowful year 1947. Rt.Rev.Dr.Peter Rossaillon the founder of St. Anthony’s School joined Lord’s fold on 23-03-1947. But his dreams came true after very few days Form V was opened.

On 01-07-1947 Rev.Fr.Gopu Innareddy was appointed as headmaster and Correspondent. During his period, St. Anthony’s High School had reached the Zeneth of glory in the history of contemporary schools. He induced sound principles of justice, honesty and devotion to duty. In 1948 Form VI was started and the school became a complete High School and presented the first batch of S.S.L.C. Students in March 1949. On 06-09-1950, the school was granted permanent recognition by the D.P.I. The construction of the second wing of the school building was started in Nov, 1949 and was completed in 1950 at a cost of Rs. 74,000/-. The School achieved academic excellence and in 1956 it stood first in the state with 93% in S.S.L.C. In June 1958 the school was converted into R.C.M. St. Anthony’s Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School. During 1959-60, the third wing with Assembly Hall and Laboratories was constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,11,500/-. In 1962, the school became a full blown higher secondary school, when it presented its first batch of students. In 1964 Bro. Montfort took over and in 1966 Sri. G.Sitarama Murthy was appointed as Headmaster.

On 31-01-1970 Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu took the charge as Headmaster and Correspondent of our school. Ever since the active Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu assumed office, the school re-vitalised in academic cultural and extra-curricular activities. A beautiful uniform which was introduced in the school from 1964 is insisted upon by Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu. Now we can readily recognize our school students wherever we find them in Blue Shirt and Khaki trousers. The physical profile of the school also changed to a great deal and a spacious open air auditorium came into existence in 1979 with a cost of Rs. 70,000/-. A Beautiful garden is grown all-round the campus with permanent protective hedge. The grounds are leveled and heavy iron gates were erected to check the trespassers and to prison the inmates at least for a few scheduled hours of schooling. Many remarkable events took place and the school once again rose to a new pinnacle of fame.

Under the stewardship of Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu, our school hosted the State Sciences fair in 1971 and won the First Prize in Student’s Project. The prize was received through Sri. P.V. Narasimha Rao, the then Chief Minister of A.P. Our school secured 95% of passed in S.S.C. in 1974, the highest percentage in the history of St. Anthony’s High School. Our school was given a special award for this academic excellence and Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu was honored by the Director of Public Instruction. In 1976 our school got 79% and stood second in the district and our Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu was honored publicly at the Police parade Ground on August 15th, 1974. In 1980 our student Mr. D. Purnanda Sarma secured the State 9th Rank in S.S.C. examination. Again in 1981 R. Narayana Kishore bagged the 9th Rank at state level in S.S.C. Exam. Under Rev.Fr. K.Joji Babu the school produced many a scholar, who are now in eminent positions in every walk of life and made them best citizens and kept the banner of the school flying high.

 

Copyright © 2024 . All Rights Reserved.
Website Designed by Dreamsto.com