St. Joseph's Convent High School, Patna, is a private, girls high school in

Bankipur Bankipur is a neighbourhood and residential area in Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located on the bank of the river Ganges. The prime attraction is the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library built by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh in 1891 and Gol ...

neighborhood of Patna, Bihar, India. It is a Catholic Missionary educational institution established in 1853, managed by

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

Congregation of Jesus The Congregation of Jesus is one of two congregations of religious sisters founded during the 17th century through the work of the nun Mary Ward, who was dedicated to female education. The other congregation is the Sisters of Loreto, a name the ...

. It has two sections, one is affiliated to the

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a non-governmental privately held national-level board of school education in India that conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination for Class ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and another is affiliated to

Bihar School Examination Board The Bihar School Examination Board (abbreviated BSEB) is a statutory body under section 3 of the Bihar School Examination Act - 1952, which is functioning under the Government of Bihar devised to conduct examinations at secondary and senior sec ...

. It is one of the oldest schools in the state of Bihar and was founded by the first Bishop of Patna, Anastasius Hartmann.

History

In 1849, Bishop Anastasius Hartmann, who was responsible for the Patna-Bettiah section of the North India Mission, acquired a sizable piece of land (about five acres) in Bankipore where he laid the foundation of a chapel on September 23, 1849. The Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph's, was opened in 1850. In 1852, on invitation of Bishop Anastasius Hartmann, the Apostolic Vicar of Patna, a group of five

Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The cong ...

from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Province in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

came to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. These five sisters were Sisters Maria Groeppner, Angela Hoffman, Aloysia Maher, Antonia Feth and Catherine Schreibman. The sisters landed in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

by ship and then set out for Patna. They traveled from Bombay to Patna by bullock cart through the thick jungles. They left Bombay in early September 1852 and reached Patna around February 1853. They established the first

IBVM The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The cong ...

House in

Bankipore Bankipur is a neighbourhood and residential area in Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located on the bank of the river Ganges. The prime attraction is the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library built by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh in 1891 and ...

in 1853, on the bank of River Ganges. The house and school bear the name of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

. Bankipore, as the first foundation, was considered the mother house of the Institute in India. St. Joseph's was the only convent between Calcutta and Agra at that time. Initially, in addition to the boarding and day school, there were two orphanages on the school campus. One for native girls and another for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and

Eurasian Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents dates back to antiq ...

girls. More buildings were added and the institution gradually grew over time. A Hindi section was founded in 1950. Currently the school is affiliated to ICSE as well as Bihar State Board. It has a 100% pass percentage in ICSE examination board results for many years and also produced several state and city toppers. School_Field_of_SJC

The school is on Ashok Rajpath road, on the banks of river

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

in Bankipur neighborhood of Patna.

Academic

Affiliation

The school is affiliated to the

. There is another Hindi section of the school which is affiliated with the

. The school prepares the students for Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and the Indian School Certificate examinations for Class X and Class XII respectively.

Medium of instruction

School follows English medium of instruction for its ICSE affiliated section. Another Hindi section affiliated with the Bihar Board uses Hindi as medium of instruction to teach students.

School session

The school year is from April to March. Days are divided into nine -periods with summer and winter timings.

Motto and houses

The motto of the institution is (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

), which means ''Without god, nothing prospers''. The four school

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

are: * ''Ruby'' (Motto: ''On Wings of Loyalty'') * ''Topaz'' (Motto: ''Effort spells Success'') * ''Emerald'' (Motto: ''Truth alone Triumphs'') * ''Sapphire'' (Motto: ''Unity is Strength'')

Notable alumni

Papiya Ghosh Papiya Ghosh was a historian of South Asian history and a professor of the University of Patna, Patna, India. She was found murdered on 3 December 2006, along with her elderly housemaid, Malti Devi, apparently as a result of an attempted burgl ...

Patna Roundup
* Nidhi Yasha *

Karishma Sharma Karishma Lala Sharma (born 22 December) is an Indian actress and model known for portraying Ragini in '' Ragini MMS: Returns'', Aaina in '' Ujda Chaman'', Tina in '' Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2'' and Isha in ''Hum - I'm Because of Us''. Early life S ...

External links

References

{{Schools in Patna Schools in Patna Christian schools in Bihar High schools and secondary schools in Bihar Educational institutions established in 1853 1853 establishments in India