Ashwin Atul

Loyola School, Jamshedpur

1945 : In a sleepy little township situated around the then 37 years old steel plant, amidst a growth of trees, lies the Chota Nagpur(CNR) Club. It has one main building and a large campus in which there are two tennis courts. The members are mostly British. Not too far from it, across the field is the Sacred Heart School; co-education had just begus. Loyola is yet to be born...	CNR Club, 1947
Loyola from the main gate(South), 1948	1947 : India gets independence. The British begin to leave India and return to their homeland. Those who have settled in Jamshedpur also begin to leave town. The CNR club lies dormant. It gives birth to Loyola School, a great institution which will lean many into this great worls and will be cherished by all.
1948 : The Tatas request the Jesuit Fathers from Maryland, U.S.A., to come to Jamshedpur to manage Loyola. Five American Fathers come from the United States under the Rector Superiorm Father Caroll I. Fasy. The Fathers are given the CNR club and the land around it to 'build' the school on. The boundary walls of the school are the same from the time when the CNR club existed. Thus a school is born - it is small, but it is to grow...	Fr. Caroll I. Fasy
The school was started in 1947 with 34 boys. The class were 4th and 5th only and were held in the old auditorium. The Fathers lived in 43, Circuit House Area. Each year, one class was added on each side. So, originally, Loyola had 4th and 5th only. The next year, 1948, it had 3rd and 6th. To provide for extra classes, new classrooms were built which later became the old D.B.C., the Scout Den, the old L.S.D. etc. But this too, was not sufficient. So a new building came up. It rose on the 'once upon a time' tennis courts of the CNR club. It is the present Loyola building! The first sports day of Loyola was held in 1948. There were no houses. There were just two divisions - seniors and juniors. Each boy could participate in a maximum of 5 events. There were 2 prizes in all; the prize for seniors went to Wei Tekur and that for juniors went to little Rocky Vaz (who became the principal of Loyola in the 80's.).The prizes were given out by Fr. Fasy. There were no spectators.	First Sports Day, 1948
First Students of Loyola	In 1952, the first boy graduated from Loyola. He was Srinivasan Thometti. He was the only student to graduate from Loyola that year.
In 1953, Fr. Hess became the new principal of Loyola. He brought about many administrative changes. About this time, the teachers quarters were built.	Fr. George Hess
Fisrt 3 Cub Scouts	Discipline was good. Those misbehaving were called to school on Saturdays. After the cumpulsory march past, they were given the "punishment of the week" popularly known as "jug". The others went for a movie show (every Saturday). The school dress consisted of khaki shorts and a khaki shirt.
Fr. Anderson Bakewell founded the Loyola Scout Troop. The scouts were very active and regularly went for hikes to Ghatshila, Dimna, Chandil and Rivers' meet.Therewas also a school band which had saxophones, cornets, trumpets, etc.	Fr. Anderson Bakewell

Slowly, steadily, the years passed and a completely new Loyola emerged. The Senior Cambridge became I.S.C. and then in 1975, we started the I.C.S.E. In 1984 Loyola added the Plus 2 section which became co-ed the following year. The band became the D.B.C. (Drums and Bugle Corps), the scouts continued. The school uniform was changed. the number of students increased year after year. Today we have 2300 students. The house system which has evolved promises a better school system in the future. The Student Council and Senior Council give a chance to he students to become leaders. The various clubs have helped the students to learn subjects to their interest and have tapped the talents of many a students. The kind of laboratories and libraries we have, are much to write home about.

 

Fr. Eugene Power

We have been progressing all through. As Fr. Power put it: Our standards are always rising. But people say it is going down, down, down... Do not believe them; for if it were so, by this time, we would be far down in Australia! This, we believe, is true.

 

History of Loyola: A Photo Feature



Sir Jehangir Ghandy laying the foundation stone



Construction of Loyola School



Construction of the 3rd Storey



Hostel Building Inauguration, 1966



Faculty(1971)



Faculty(1997)


 

Fr. Pius Fernandes Principal

Fr. George Thana Vice Principal

Previous Principals of Loyola School