St. Anne’s High School, Fort, Mumbai

St. Anne’s High School, Fort, Mumbai, popularly known as St. Anne's, Fort is a private girls school in Mumbai, India.[1] Established in 1929, the school is part of the global network of Convent of Jesus and Mary schools and is considered one of South Mumbai’s legacy schools.[2]

St. Anne's High School, Fort, Mumbai
Address
Madame Cama Road, Fort

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

400 001
CoordinatesWRGJ+3G Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Information
School typeDay; Non-residential
Established1929
FounderReligious of Jesus and Mary
Sister schoolConvent of Jesus and Mary, Fort, Mumbai (Fort Convent)
PrincipalSr. Laila Elias Dsouza

The school is housed at Grosvenor House on Madame Cama Road in the heart of the historical Fort neighbourhood of South Mumbai.[3] The school is across the street from the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum and is about ten minutes walking distance from the Gateway of India, Oval Maidan and Cooperage Ground, all historical landmarks of the city. The locality is home to several reputed schools of Mumbai like Campion School and Fort Convent School.

History

The school was established on 11th June 1929 by the pioneering team of Mother Beatrice Marti, Sr. Pauline Coelho and Sr. Ida Mendes of the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary, a Roman Catholic order founded by Claudine Thévenet (Mary of St. Ignatius) in Lyon, France in 1818.[4] The work of the Congregation started in India in November 1842 with the arrival of five French nuns at Agra. On 18th December 1850, nuns from the Congregation arrived in the Mazagaon neighbourhood of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency (now included in the mega-city of Mumbai), not far from the present St. Anne Church. The nuns of the Congregation went on to establish many educational institutions in Mumbai including the St. Anne's High School in Fort.[5]

Foundation and early years (1929 to 1942)

1929 - The school started operating from a large rented room in Derby Hotel at Colaba Causeway in June 1929. On the first day, 59 students were admitted to the school.[4]

1930 - As the number of students began to swell, the school moved to the second floor of Ormsby House on Ormiston road at Wellington Pier, Colaba. At this time, 120 students were enrolled in the school. In the period that followed, the school began operating toddlers' classes from the ground floor of the building. In this year, the school was placed under the patronage of St. Anne’s and was given its name.[4]

1931 - This was a significant year in the school's history as the first batch appeared for the Bombay matriculation examination. The school operated from Jer Villa (Steafan Hall) on Wodehouse Road in Colaba during this period.[4]

1934 - For the next 8 years, the school was housed at The Grange (Archbishop’s house) on Wodehouse Road.[4]

1942 - The school came to be housed in the building that has been its abode ever since. The nuns of Religious of Jesus and Mary purchased Grosvenor House opposite the Cowasji Jehangir Hall, Colaba in this year.[4]

School Today

St. Anne's, Fort is a Christian Minority Institution claiming rights and privileges under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India. While, the school retains its unique Catholic identity, it is open to students from all castes and creeds.[6] Today, the school has 930 students and 34 staff members.[4]

The students excel not only in academics but also in a variety of extra curricular activities like elocution, debating, quiz competitions, dramatics, and sports. The school football team has been a regular finalist or winner in various prestigious football tournaments such as the District Sports Office (DSO) Under-17 girls' inter-school football tournament, QPR South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger and the MSSA Inter-Schools Football Tournament.[7][8][9] School footballers have also represented the Maharashtra State football team at School National Games.[9]

The school migrated from Maharashtra State Board Secondary and Higher Secondary (SSC) curriculum to Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) curriculum in June 2019.[10] The ICSE curriculum was introduced for up to class VIII and the SSC classes will be discontinued by 2022.[11]

St Anne’s, Fort shares the use of Sabina Chandrashekhar Memorial Municipal ground (formerly called Wellington Garden) and fondly called 'the back garden by Annites with other schools in the neighbourhood like Campion School, Fort Convent School and Holy Name School. The playground has a football field, two basketball courts, a walking track, and a children’s playing area. In 2014, Colaba residents and principals of the schools protested against Mumbai's civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's proposed construction of a municipal swimming pool on the grounds.[12]

School Aspirations

The school articulated its aspirations for the generations of students that have passed through its portals in the form of "Anne's Aspirations".[13]

“We inspire our girls to be women—with a strong faith in god, themselves and others.

Women of intellectual integrity, self-discipline and hardwork.

Self-reliant selfless women, fearless and forceful with a strong sense of family, social and national responsibility.

Women with our unique Indian simplicity and purity of heart and purpose.

Women who will transform society, not just fit into it.”

School Anthem

Come Annites gather now

With faith unshaken

Let deep integrity

Our hearts awaken.

Life's journey starts from you

We lift our hearts anew

All striving to be true

Our alma mater

Knowledge and love trust

Daily engendered

And pace of mind from duty

Nobly rendered

The lives we lead will be

Symbols of harmony

And truth we learn from thee

Our alma mater

Lead us, oh light from heaven

Brighten our pathway

Strength from within give us

To choose the right way

Where in the world we go

Let hope and courage show

That we will always know

Our alma mater

Notable Alumni

Kajal Agarwal, Indian film actress and model.

Tanishaa Mukerji, Indian film actress

Shubhangi Swarup, Indian print journalist, filmmaker, novelist and educationist[14]

  • St. Anne's High School, Fort, Mumbai website (2005)
  • St. Anne's High School, Fort, Mumbai website (2016)

References
  1. "St. Anne's High School, Fort, Mumbai".
  2. "90-year-old-south-mumbai-school-switches-to-icse". Mumbai Mirror. 28 September 2019.
  3. "Cathedral of Holy Name, Mumbai - Schools". Cathedral of the Holy Name.
  4. "Milestones – Stannes Fort". www.stannesfort.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  5. "History | St. Agnes' High School". stagneshighschool.org. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  6. "St. Anne's: Information".
  7. "Bombay Scottish girls clinch DSO U-17 title". mid-day. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  8. "St. Anne's H S enter into final". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  9. Indiablooms. "7th QPR - South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger: Young guns Renee and Tricia fire St. Anne's to title | Indiablooms - First Portal on Digital News Management". Indiablooms.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  10. Gaikwad, Rahi GaikwadRahi; Sep 28, Mumbai Mirror | Updated:; 2019; Ist, 06:00. "90-year-old south Mumbai school switches to ICSE". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 2020-05-08.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. Sep 29, TNN |; 2019; Ist, 10:57. "St Anne's High School moves to ICSE board | Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-05-08.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. "Colaba residents, schools protest plan for swimming pool in garden". The Indian Express. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  13. "Anne's Aspirations". annesmumbai.tripod.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  14. "Shubhangi Swarup". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 2020-05-08.

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