Christ Church School 3.9

Christ Church School is a private coeducational prep school located in Mumbai, India. It is a Christian school, founded in 1815, under the auspices of the Bombay Education Society. It has close to 3800 students, all of whom are day scholars. The school is twinned with Barnes School, in Deolali, Nashik. Both schools follow the ICSE curriculum. It is located in Byculla, just ahead of the JJ flyover. The school is located on Clare Road, or as it is locally called, Mirza Ghalib Marg.HistoryIn the early 1700s, the Rev. Richard Cobbe was appointed chaplain to the British East India Company's Factory in Bombay. In 1718, he founded a small school where twelve poor boys were given free housing, clothing, food, and education. The school, which had one teacher, was located in a building not far from the present-day Cathedral of St. Thomas in Fort, Mumbai.After nearly a century, the Ven. Archdeacon George Barnes, also with the East India Company, realised that the original school could not possibly meet the needs of hundreds of children it then looked after. He appealed for funds, and started the Bombay Education Society in 1815. The original school was taken over by the BES, and numbers grew rapidly until it was apparent that new grounds and school buildings were essential. A large site at Byculla was given by the Government for the building of the school, and the new school buildings were opened in 1825. One of the copper plates commemorating the opening is on the wall of Evan's Hall in Barnes School, while the other remains with Christ Church School.