St. Joseph Higher Secondary School

St. Joseph Higher Secondary School is a Catholic higher secondary school in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is a mono-ed (boys’) school offering education from third grade to twelfth grade, averaging 8–18 years of age. The school is a single shift school with over 2500 students.

Established in 1954 as the “St. Joseph English Medium School” in 16 Monir Hossain Lane, Narinda in the current old part of Dhaka by the Congregation of Holy Cross missionaries, the institution had a General Certificate of Education (GCE) based education structure. The current campus is at 97, Asad Avenue, Mohammedpur, Dhaka.

History

On 19 March 1954, Brother Jude opened the door of 16 Monir Hossain Lane for four students to start St. Joseph High School. The classes were taught in the parlor for the first year. The following year, a single storied building was constructed by Brother Andrew at 32, Shah Shaheb Lane, Narinda. In 1960, a second roof was added as the enrolment of the school rose to 269. In 1963, nine years after opening, the school was sufficiently developed to enable two major accomplishments to take place—both of which was to bring Brother Jude’s original idea closer to realization. In October 1964, to accommodate the increasing enrollment, Brother Fulgence, Superior of the Brothers, began work on a new school complex in Mohammadpur. In November of that same year, the first class of boys from St. Joseph sat for the Cambridge Examinations. This group was the first group of many groups to bring honor to the school. In July 1965, all the classes shifted from Narinda to the Mohammadpur compound.

The new school was very modern and quite unfinished. The first classes held here were for adventuresome boys who had to climb over construction materials, bear up with construction noises and brave the elements. But the joy of having new school brought out a new spirit which grew as the school developed. In 1974, the first batch of boys took the SSC Examination and 32 of the 33 boys passed and one of them was placed ninth in the combined merit list. After the liberation and independence of Bangladesh, the school started to grow and develop with the new country. The medium of instruction changed to Bangla and the school registered with Dhaka board. In 1973 the last of the Cambridge groups took their examinations. During the ten years of Cambridge, 233 boys took the overseas examination and 98% passed with over 60% in the first division. Each year brings forth some achievement for the school but for over 59 years, St. Joseph has continued the traditions set by the first pioneers and Brother Jude, Advancing in Wisdom and virtue.[1] St Joseph celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2004 at the school campus. On 19 March 2014, St. Joseph celebrated its 60th anniversary of establishment.