Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School or Holy Angels' AI Hr. Sec School is an all-girls

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, private, convent school located in

Chennai, India Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

, which offers education from nursery level to higher secondary (XII) level. The school is run by the

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary , image = Mariadelapasion2.jpg , size = 175px , caption = Blessed Mary of the Passion foundress of the congregation , abbreviation = F.M.M , motto = , formation = , founder = Hélène de Chappotin(Sister ...

. The school's motto is ''"Towards Charity By Truth"''. The school celebrated its platinum jubilee in the academic year 2009/10 with a 75th-year annual day celebration.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

attended. The school has 3000+ students belonging to many religions.

Indra Nooyi Indra Nooyi (née Krishnamurthy; born October 28, 1955) is an Indian-American business executive and former chief executive officer and chairperson of PepsiCo. She has consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. In 2014, sh ...

, chairman and former chief executive officer of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

is an alumnus of this school, along with well-known

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

actresses

Samantha Ruth Prabhu Samantha Ruth Prabhu (formerly: Samantha Akkineni; born 28 April 1987) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She is a recipient of several awards, including four South Filmfare Awards, six South Indian I ...

and

Aishwarya Rajesh Aishwarya Rajesh (born 10 January 1990) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil films, alongside Telugu and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards, one Filmfare Award South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Aish ...

History

The institute was founded in St. Thomas Convent,

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

. In 1888, St Antony's school was run by the parish priest for the education of

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

children. In 1897, the

sisters took charge of it and it came to be called as St Thomas European School. In 1909, the name "Holy Angels'" was given to the boarding house for Anglo-Indian children. But larger accommodations were soon required. Mgr. Teixeira, the Portuguese Bishop of Mylapore since 1928 proposed to sell to the FFM a piece of church property measuring approximately 5 acres at Mambalam (now

T. Nagar Thyagaraya Nagar, commonly known as T. Nagar, and historically known as East Mambalam, is a very affluent commercial and residential neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is surrounded by Nungambakkam in the North, Teynampet in the ...

). In February 1933, the institution purchased the land and plans were made for the construction of an Anglo-Indian School, a boarding home and a convent. Eight rooms were erected by 21 March 1934. Two months later, Bishop Carvalho laid the foundation for a new building in

Mambalam West Mambalam is a residential and commercial area in Chennai, India. It is known for its shops, bazaars and Hindu temples. It is bounded by Kodambakkam to the north and Saidapet to the south. T. Nagar and Nandanam stretch all along its eastern ...

(now

T.Nagar Thyagaraya Nagar, commonly known as T. Nagar, and historically known as East Mambalam, is a very affluent commercial and residential neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is surrounded by Nungambakkam in the North, Teynampet in the Ea ...

). On 1 June 1934, Our Lady's Kindergarten was opened comprising the outhouses. The first headmistress was M. Notre Dame de Pompei, born in India to Irish parents. On 2 August 1934, the foundation stone for the new mission was blessed by the Bishop of Mylapore. On 2 July 1935, Holy Angels' was placed in a magnificent new building. On 27 June 1935, Mgr. Carvalho blessed each section of the new construction. Between 1937 and 1940 the original block was lengthened, a wing added and a floor constructed, and the complete building was bridged to the main building.

Convent

By July 1935 the FMM superior at

decided that the Holy Angels' institution would need to have a separate community with its own superior. On 5 August 1935 the decision was finalised and a community of nine sisters moved into a wing of the new building. An International Eucharistic Congress was held in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

from 28 to 30 December 1937, the convent hosted a number of sisters of different congregations.

World War II

In 1942, the children of the school, the sisters of the convent and the teachers were evacuated to Palmaner. A total of 252 pupils, 14 sisters, 8 lay teachers and 20 housemaids left. Meanwhile, the government authorities requisitioned the Holy Angels' property to be used as Air Raid Precaution Headquarters, the Madras High Court and the Law College for the duration of the war. In the chapel, a section of the main construction at Holy Angels' the Eucharist was celebrated very early on the morning of 22 April 1942. One very valuable item was left standing in the empty chapel: the beautiful and venerated statue of the Madonna, which would guard and protect Holy Angels' for the next four years. This statue of Madonna and the child Christ is a souvenir of

Helene de Chappotin Hélène Marie Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville (Nantes, 21 May 1839 – Sanremo, 15 November 1904), known as Mary of the Passion (French: Mère Marie de la Passion), was a French religious sister and missionary, who founded the Franciscan ...

and is today housed in St. Thomas convent, provincial house of the Chennai Province.

Houses

Holy Angels' students are divided into four houses when they are in I std. The houses are named in honour of

martyrs: Teresalina house * Colour: Red * Patron: Sr. Teresalina * Motto: Rowing Not Drifting Teresalina house gets its name after Sr. Teresalina a young FMM missionary who came to India in 1947 and was sent to

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. During the Hindu-Muslim Riots of 1947 that took place after Independence, she died trying to protect her superior from the bullet of a terrorist. The house colour is red - the colour of sacrifice. Helen house * Colour: Blue * Patron: Mother Mary of the Passion (

) * Motto: Towards Charity By Truth Helen House is in blue - the colour of the sky - signifying calmness and quietness. The patron is Mother Mary of the Passion, the founder of the FMM, the institute to which the school belongs. The motto of Helen house and of all FMM institutions is "Towards Charity By Truth". This motto was printed on all student report cards, along with an emblem carrying its Latin translation "Ad Charitatem Per Veritatem". Assunta house * Colour: Yellow * Patron: Sr. Maria Assunta * Motto: In God We Trust Assunta house has its name from sister Assunta - a young Italian FMM nun who went to work for the poor and the marginalised. Hermine' house * Colour: Green * Patron: Sr. Hermine * Motto: By Adversity To The Stars Mother Hermine was a missionary who led her little flock of nuns to China where they were brutally murdered along with several other missionaries during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

. What was remarkable was that despite being warned of impending danger Mother Hermine inspired her sisters not to desert the orphans for whom they were working and faced death with a smile, singing praises of God. Hermine house has adopted her motto-"By Adversity To The Stars".

Times of India survey

The

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

and Research agency IMRB conducted a perception survey among parents, teachers and Chennai's public to rank the city's schools. Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School was ranked second in the survey published in Feb 2014.

Notable alumni

- businesswoman *

- actress *

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won several ...

- Actress

References

Sources

Holy Angels official website
{{coord, 13.04119, 80.241668, display=title Franciscan high schools Catholic schools in India Christian schools in Tamil Nadu Girls' schools in Tamil Nadu Primary schools in Tamil Nadu High schools and secondary schools in Chennai Educational institutions established in 1934 1934 establishments in India