St. John's Diocesan School for Girls is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

and day school for girls in Scottsville,

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

, South Africa.

History

It was founded in 1897 by the Society of Sisters of St John the Divine and has an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

foundation. In 1887, Sister Fanny, together with Novices Anna and Margaret (who took their vows soon after they arrived), were sent out to Pietermaritzburg from England to look after and educate orphans. Within months they were running the St Cross Orphanage in Loop Street and had named their little community 'The Society of St John the Divine'. As the orphanage expanded, the Sisters decided to build a boarding facility to accommodate children who wished to attend school in the town. Thus in 1894 the foundation stone to the convent in Burger Street was laid where the present Medical Centre now exists. Numbers continued to grow and the building next to the convent was acquired for older girls and was named 'St John's School' in 1897. The following year this building became a school for girls from kindergarten to

Matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

. In 1913, a site was selected in Scottsville to give "...a freer life . . .more space for playing fields, more accommodation for boarders and better school buildings" and so began the development of the school to what it is today. The original school building, opened in 1915, is now part of the Junior School, the Junior Resource centre being the original school hall. Private schools in KwaZulu-Natal Anglican schools in South Africa Buildings and structures in Pietermaritzburg Educational institutions established in 1897 1897 establishments in the Colony of Natal {{SouthAfrica-school-stub