St. Joseph Higher Secondary School ( bn, সেন্ট যোসেফ উচ্চ মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

higher secondary school in 97 Asad Avenue Mohammadpur,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It is a mono-ed (boys') school offering education from

third grade Third grade (also called grade three, equivalent to Year 4 in England) is a year of primary education in many countries. It is the third school year of primary school. Students are usually 8–9 years old. Examples of the American syllabus *I ...

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

, averaging 8–18 years of age. The school is a single shift(morning) 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 , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...

missionaries, the institution had a

General Certificate of Education The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish e ...

(GCE) based education structure. The current campus is at 97, Asad Avenue, Mohammedpur, Dhaka.

History

St. Joseph celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2004 at the school campus. On 19 March 2014, St. Joseph celebrated its 60th anniversary of establishment.

Architecture

Robert Boughey Robert Boughey (born 1940) is an American architect born in Pennsylvania, United States. He completed his Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York in 1959 and received Diploma in Tropical Studies from AA School of Archi ...

: An American architect born in Pennsylvania, US. He completed his Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York in 1959 and received Diploma in Tropical Studies from AA School of Architecture, London in 1967. He is a former research professor of architecture at Pratt institute.

Academic identification

Having both primary and

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

level, this institution also offers

higher secondary education Higher may refer to: Music * The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band Albums * ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007 * ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title song, 2000 * ''Higher'' (Harem Scarem album) or the title song ...

from 2001. The secondary level has both

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

version. The higher secondary level includes

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

too. All the levels have both

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and English language versions, each class having two Bengali and one English version sections. Besides, from the year 2017, it has restarted the English medium section of the school named St. Joseph International School following the Cambridge Curriculum.

Admission

The school section admission goes through three levels; interview, written test and final selection. The principal personally interviews every single applicant. Admission into class 3 is held officially, around 2500-6000 competing for around 160-180 seats. Other classes (4-9) may offer admissions if seats are vacant. The college section usually selects only 600-700 students out of approximately 7000 applicants through one of the most competitive written and viva exams in the country.

Curriculum

The school follows the National Curriculum of studies. Upon establishment, it was an

English Medium An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students. Initially this is associated with the expansion of English from its homeland i ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

school. Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the school abridged itself along with the national curriculum. In the year 2004, it introduced the English Version first in

grade 6 Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...

, gradually adding one English version section to each grade. The school was initially named "St. Joseph High School". In the year 2001 Higher Secondary Education (equivalent to college) had also been introduced in Saint Joseph, changing the name of the institution to "Saint Joseph Higher Secondary School". The school is recognized by the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education,

. The average graduating class from Saint Joseph each year has 160 to 170 students. The secondary level offers S.S.C (equivalent to

O level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

) examinations and the higher secondary level offers H.S.C (equivalent to

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

) examinations. The curriculum includes both Bengali and English versions (not to be confused with English Medium). The institution is recognized by the Board of Intermediate and Higher Secondary Educations.

Grades and classes

Instead of Section 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C etc. St. Joseph uses names for its sections of grades. There are three sections for grades 3–10, and there are six sections for grades 11–12. In the school section, each class contains 50-60 students.

Uniform

The uniform consists of white shirt, dark grey trousers and black shoes. In winter, students are allowed to wear pullovers or blazers, but the pullovers or blazers must be navy blue.

School grounds

Outdoors

The school has a 3.5 acre campus. It has grounds for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, among other sports. The school basketball court, built in the 60s and modified in 2008, also serves as a multipurpose auditorium. School 2

Campus and buildings

The School Campus viewed from the third gate

A composite of two four-storied buildings with a two-storied building in the annex for teachers and office comprise the campus. The buildings are known as north and south building. The ground floor of the south building serves as a

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

court. The school has three main entries. One serves as the entry for students, one for official purpose. The other entry is currently unused.

Laboratories

St. Joseph has some of the best high school lab facilities in the country. The Biology labs and the chemistry labs are well-equipped and are large in size. Some schools and educational institutions as

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board ...

use these facilities for their students. Facilities include two computer labs equipped with multimedia projectors, a separate internet lab, two advanced chemistry labs, two physics labs and two biology labs. Of each of the chemistry, physics and biology labs one is used by the secondary students and the other is by higher secondary students.

Library

The library was founded by Brother Lorenzo, CSC in 1954. It has approximately 10 thousand books and magazines. The library works with the Bishwa Sahitya Kendra and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

to arrange book reading programs. The library is operated by two librarians and a team of student volunteers.

Purposes of the campus

The school buildings are solely dedicated for the teaching of its students. The southwest corner of the school holds a small hostel for the brothers of Holycross. Since 2004, the school has been hosting the national occurrence of

Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad The Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad is an annual mathematical competition arranged for school and college students to nourish their interest and capabilities for mathematics. It has been regularly organized by the Bangladesh Math Olympiad Commi ...

Achievements

* 13 UNSW medal won in 2007,

Headmasters and principals

* Brother Jude Costello, C.S.C. (1954–1962) * Brother Gerald Kraeger, C.S.C. (1963–1967 and 1969–1972) * Brother Thomas O'Linn C.S.C. (1967–1969) * Brother Ralph Baird, C.S.C (1979–1985) * Brother John Stephen, C.S.C. (1985–1987) * Brother Thomas Moore, C.S.C. (1973–1978 and 1987–1988) * Brother Nicholas Thielman, C.S.C. (1987–1989) * Brother John Rozario, C.S.C. (1990–2007) (Ex-Principal Emeritus) * Dr. Brother Leo James Pereira, C.S.C. (2007–2011) * Late Brother Harold B. Rodrigues, C.S.C. (2011–2012) * Late Brother Robi Purification, C.S.C. (2012–2020) * Dr. Brother Subal Lawrence Rozario, C.S.C.(2022-2022) * Dr. Brother Leo James Pereira, C.S.C. (2020-2021 and 2022–Present) nd and 5th Principalh1>

Past and current faculties

Starting its journey with a handful of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Brothers from

, the school received the services of a large number of teachers both before and after integrating itself with the secondary education system in

. The current faculty consists of 50 Secondary Section teachers, 25 Higher Secondary Section teachers, a counselor, two Prefects of Discipline, two librarians, office staffs, two sports instructors, and individual coaches for the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

teams. Dr. Bro. Subal Lawrence Rozario, CSC is the current principal of the school. Br. Victor Bikash D'Rozario, CSC and Br. Rocy J. Costa are the current

vice-principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making authorit ...

s of the school.

Extracurricular units

To ease and remove regular class monotony, St. Joseph provides students with an array of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. Students can explore their latent talents through participating in the activities of various clubs such as the Scintilla Science Club, Josephite Debating Club, Josephite Language and Reading Club, Business Club, Josephite Chess Club, Josephite Eco Earth Club, Interact Club, Cultural Forum, Drama Group, Computer Club. Each club arranges and organizes seminars, workshops, symposiums, fairs and functions all the year round.

Scouting

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

was introduced in St. Joseph in 1964 with a view to creating among the students a sense of sensitivity, sympathy, fellow feeling, camaraderie, benevolence, generosity and rationality towards the deprived, distressed, underprivileged and the marginalized. It teaches an individual to become self-reliant by honest means. It instigates good human qualities in the individuals to make them prepared for people in their times of crying need. The scout groups of St. Joseph have participated in numerous camps, rallies, jamborees at home and abroad. Many of the scouts have camped in countries like Australia, India,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, Pakistan, the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Usually two regular camps are arranged in a year, one in the school campus and the other outside Dhaka.

Literacy School

As a part of its continued strides towards humanitarian and social services, St. Joseph runs a Literacy School at its premises in the afternoon to impart free primary education to the underprivileged children of the slums and Geneva Camps around Mohammadpur area. This Literacy School was founded in 1978 by Brother Nicolas Thiemann, CSC. Students can get free education up to class-V from this school. The classes are held on every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The school starts at 2:30 p.m. and breaks at 5:00 p.m. Besides basic literacy skills, they are taught discipline, good manners, moral and social values.

Publications

''The Josephite'' is the yearbook of St. Joseph published annually to record the activities of the institution all the year round. The contents of the yearly magazine include massages from the Archbishop, Principal, Vice-Principal, Counselor and Students’ Guidance, editor and student editor, photographs of the teachers, photographs of all students (III-XII), photographs of the activities of the students, events and programs, individual writings of the students in both Bengali and English and so on. ''The Josephite'' is thought to have been first published in 1967 and since then it has been published every year to display the activities and performance of the students.

Sports and games

Football, cricket, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, chess are the most common sports and games held almost regularly on the ground. St. Joseph has produce players such as

Shahriar Nafees Shahriar Nafees Ahmed ( bn, শাহরিয়ার নাফীস আহমেদ; born: 1 May 1985) is a former Bangladeshi cricketer, who played all formats of the game, and was also a former T20I captain for Bangladesh.He made his On ...

(cricketer) and Grand Master Reefat Bin Sattar. On the annual sports day, a number of traditional track and field events are organised for both the students and teachers. These include long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throwing, relay race, 100-metre sprint, 200-metre sprint, 400-metre sprint, 800-metre sprint, 1500-metre sprint, dress as you like and tug-of war.

Excursions

St. Joseph always looks to ways of improving students physically, mentally and socially. With this view in mind, St. Joseph allows and encourages students to go on picnics, study tours or excursions either on campus or out of campus or even outside the country. Each class (classes-III to X) arranges picnic or study tour either on campus or out of campus. This gives students an opportunity to get close to their teachers and discover them more outside the class. A four-day-long study tour to Chittagong-Cox's Bazar-St. Martin for the students of class-XI is the most exciting and enjoyable event. From this tour students can gain a good deal of practical knowledge, life-time experience and unforgettable pleasure. They have opportunities to learn a lot besides merely sight-seeing, wallowing in the seawater or enjoying different foods.

Notable alumni

Education * Mohammed Omar Ejaz Rahman, adjunct professor of demography and epidemiology,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

* Mushfiq Mobarak, professor of economics,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Asif Azam Siddiqi Asif Azam Siddiqi is a Bangladeshi American space historian and a Guggenheim Fellowship winner. He is a professor of history at Fordham University. He specializes in the history of science and technology and modern Russian history. He has writ ...

, space historian, currently serves as an assistant professor of history at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

Jalal Alamgir Jalal Alamgir (17 January 1971 – 3 December 2011), was a Bangladeshi-American academic and an associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and the son of Awami League Member of Parliament Muhiuddin Khan A ...

, academic and an associate professor of political science at the

University of Massachusetts-Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massac ...

Music *

Tahsan Rahman Khan Tahsan Rahman Khan (Bengali:তাহসান রহমান খান; born 18 October 1979), known mononymously as Tahsan Khan or Tahsan, is a Bangladeshi musician and actor. He is the lead singer of his own rock band Tahsan and the Band. ...

, Bangladeshi singer, songwriter, actor, composer, model Sports & Games *

, Bangladeshi cricketer, who plays all formats of the game and also a former Twenty20 International captain for Bangladesh * Reefat Bin Sattar, Bangladeshi chess grandmaster Politics *

Anisul Huq (politician) Anisul Huq (born 30 March 1956) is a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician. He has been the Bangladesh government's Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs since 2014. Early life and education Anisul Huq was the son of Serajul Huq, ...

, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician who has been the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in the Cabinet of Bangladesh since 2014. *

Andaleeve Rahman Andaleeve Rahman Partho (born 20 April 1974) is the president of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party, a Member of Parliament and the principal of British School of Law in Dhaka. Early life Andaleeve Rahman was born on 20 April 1974 in Dhaka, Banglad ...

is the President of the

Bangladesh Jatiya Party The Bangladesh Jatiya Party is a political party in Bangladesh. It is a splinter group of the original Jatiya Party, that was founded by the former President of Bangladesh Hossain Mohammad Ershad. It was previously known as Jatiya Party (Naz ...

, a ex

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and the Principal of British School of Law in Dhaka. Entrepreneur * Omar Ishrak, chairman of

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

, chairman & CEO of Medtronic * Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani, businessman from the

Ispahani family The Ispahani family, also known as the House of Ispahani are a Perso-Bengali business family. In Bangladesh, they own and manage M. M. Ispahani Limited, one of the country's leading conglomerates and Ispahani Advisory and Surrey International i ...

and the chairman of M. M. Ispahani Limited Others *

Naveed Mahbub Naveed Mahbub is a Bangladeshi comedian and columnist. He was awarded Best Male Comedian in the 2007 Las Vegas Comedy Festival. In 2016, Mahbub was featured in US-based comedy television channel Comedy Central. He hosts a morning radio show, '' ...

, Bangladeshi comedian and columnist *

Khairul Anam Shakil Khairul Anam Shakil is a Bangladeshi singer of Nazrul Sangeet genre. He was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 2019. Early life and career Shakil graduated from Leeds Beckett University in industrial engineering in 1984. He ...

, awarded Ekushey Padak in Music

Alumni association

The alumni of the school have formed the Saint Joseph Old Boys Foundation (SJOBF), which organizes events and programs. The alumni of the school have formed the Josephites Foundation Canada, a North American foundation that accepts members from all over the world who are Josephites.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Higher Secondary School, Dhaka Holy Cross secondary schools Catholic secondary schools in Bangladesh Educational institutions established in 1954 Schools in Dhaka 1954 establishments in East Pakistan Christianity in Dhaka