St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata 4.81

St. Lawrence High School is an English and Bengali language Jesuit secondary school for boys in Kolkata, India, which includes boarding facilities. The school was started in 1810 in Baithakhana as an elementary school which later came to be known as St. John Chrysostom School. It was re-founded in January 1937 by Jesuit Fr. Lawrence Rodriques as St. Lawrence High School. Around 2,300 students are enrolled.HistorySt.Lawrence High School traces its roots to an elementary school at the Church of Our Lady of Dolours at Baithakkhana, Sealdah, in 1810. In 1855 it was known as St. John Chrysostom’s School and prepared students for the Lower Primary Examination. In 1902 it became the site of St. Ann’s Orphanage and included Upper Primary School; teaching was in Bengali but instruction in English was included. In 1913 teaching turned to English and boys were prepared for the Junior Cambridge Course. In 1920 the University of Calcutta recognized Chrysostom as a high school, with its first graduation in 1922. At that time the school at 126 Bow Bazar Street occupied one floor of a building that had a printery on the ground floor and the top floor housed boarders; it had no playground. In the 1930s Fr. Lawrence Rodriques S.J. held Sunday raffles to purchase St. Xavier's College land at Ballygunge. In January 1937 he was able to open a large new school there, featuring tall eucalyptus trees, a flower garden, and playground. Rodrigues rechristened the school after his namesake, Lawrence of Rome.