St. Edmund's School, Shillong

The school was established by the Congregation of Christian Brothers (India province) in Laitumkhrah, Shillong in 1916. The school is located in Laitumkhrah, Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya State. Set amongst the lush temperate forests of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills with its many waterfalls, Shillong was known as Scotland of the East during the British colonial period. The brotherhood was founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers were invited to Shillong in 1915 and St. Edmund’s College was begun in 1916. It was, however, in 1923 that the College was ready to start Inter-Arts and Inter-Science classes, and affiliation to the University of Calcutta, for these courses was received in 1923. The first classes of the University section of St. Edmund’s College opened in 1924. Bro. J. E. McCann was the first Principal of the College (he was also the Principal of the School at this time). Bro. I. O’Leary was the first Principal of the College (separate from the School).

From 1924 to 1936, St. Edmund’s College was junior college for Intermediate Arts and Science. At this level the college offered English, Alternative English, Latin, History, Maths, Geography, Physical Chemistry for arts and science respectively. The College celebrated its Platinum Jubilee in 1999.

St. Edmund's School celebrated its Centenary Jubilee by starting with the opening ceremony on the 5th of May 2015 and its closing ceremony on the same date in 2016.

Creation Week is a week-long extravaganza where students are provided a platform for displaying their non-curriculum talents. Students from other schools are invited to participate as guest viewers for the week. The students display their talent in debates, extempore speeches, declamations, dances, spelling bee, skits, dramas ( one act play), quizzes, dumbcharades to individual talent displays like solo singing, solo musical performance and poetry."

Edmundian Fest

The Edmundian Fest is a new addition to the activities and extravaganza of St.Edmunds. The main aim to the fest is to bring together students of different schools of the city and participate in events ranging from Quiz Competition, Debates, Singing Competition, Extempore speeches ,Pantomiming, Stand-up comedy, Story Writing, Poetry Writing, Art and Craft such as Cartooning, Graffiti Art,Painting and Origami.

Annual Sports

The annual sports is held in April. On this day, students from classes KG to 10 perform drills. Other schools participate in the sports. It is one of the most popular activities in Shillong and people from all places come to watch it.

Annual Concert

The annual concert is usually held in September. It is a grand extravaganza of theatrics, dance and music and draws a wide audience of students, parents and teachers.

Clubs

The school also provides different clubs such as Environment Club, Debate club, Disaster Management Club, Edmund Rice Club, Photography Club, Science Club,Scribes Club and the Quiz club. The school newsletter is managed by an independent group with members coming from any of the given clubs.

Tournaments

The school provides different tournaments for students in the fields of basketball (class 7 to class 10), football (class 5 to class 10), Cricket (classes 7 to 10), etc.

Camping

The school takes the students of class 8 and above to a camping expedition. This usually happens during the months of October and November.

Excursion tours

The school also features annual excursion tours both domestic and international.The first domestic excursion tour was in the year of 2016, with the excursion to New Delhi, Agra and Noida, and international excursions such as; The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Educational tour to the United States. In the year 2018, there was also an excursion to Europe where iconic places in the United Kingdom, France and Spain were visited.

The school caters to not just subjects prescribed by the ICSE but also includes subjects like Moral Science.

The Card System Until the 1990s the school maintained a system of class tests spanned across the academic year, in between regular term exams. These class tests were for different grades - green, blue, pink and yellow. The green cards were averaged based on high percentage while yellow denoted failure in one or more primary subjects.

Unit Test

Unit Tests are a regular feature. In 2015, with the new principal BR. Solomon Morris, the unit test is held two times each term.

Term Exam

The school usually has two terms exams a year, one in June and the other in the final week of November. Unlike card tests, which were conducted within classrooms, the term exams were more formal. Classes KG to 3 do not have term exams and their promotion is based mainly from class tests. Classes 4 usually have their exams in their classrooms, classes 5 and 6 have their exams in the classrooms of 6 .Classes 7-9 have their exams in different classrooms.

From 1992 onward the ICSE pattern was changed, with the introduction of projects and later bifurcation of the syllabus. A typical class-X term exam had the following schedule:

GROUP 1:( All listed subjects are compulsory)

• English Literature
• English Language
• 2nd Language (Khasi/Hindi/Spanish)
• History and Civics
• Geography

GROUP 2:( Students may choose any 2 subjects )

• Science (Individual papers for Physics, Chemistry and Biology)
• Mathematics
• Economics
• Commercial Studies
• Environmental Studies(EVS)

GROUP 3:(Application oriented subjects)

In this group, students have to choose one subject which includes:

• Computer Applications
• Commercial Applications
• Physical Education
• Fashion Designing
• Cookery

Other subjects that are also taught includes:

• 3rd Language* is needed from class 5 to 8.
• Art and Craft
• Physical Training (P.T.)
• Aerobics (till Class 6)
• Music (till Class 5)
• Life Skills
• Value Education
• Robotics

For example, if a student takes his 2nd Language as Hindi, that means his 3rd Language will be Khasi.

The results of the School has been excellent in the ICSE Class 10 Examinations. Some of the ICSE toppers of the School are:-

•Binav Gautam(2017)

•Palak Deb Patra(2018)

•Debangan Roy Choudhury(2019)

•Imad Faroqui(2020)

List of principals in chronological order

• Br. A.L Aherne 1916-1918
• Br. M.S.O'Brien 1918-1922
• Br. J.C. Doheny 1922-1923
• Br. J.E. McCann 1923-1929
• Br. M.B. Power 1929-1931
• Br. J.C. Roe 1931-1937
• Br. J.M McGee 1937-1941
• Br. E.B Mockler 1941-1944
• Br. J.I O'Leary 1944-1949
• Br. J.C. Roe 1949-1954
• Br. J.A. McPhilimey 1954-1960
• Br. R.B. Oman 1960-1966
• Br. D.E. Hayes 1966-1972
• Br. J.B. Judge 1972-1973
• Br. R.B. Oman 1973-1975
• Br. C.P. Gaffney 1975-1981
• Br. S.A. Pinto 1981-1983
• Br. A.L. Noronha 1983-1985
• Br. H.C. McGann 1985-1988
• Br. S. Coelho 1988-1995
• Br. P. Henriques 1995
• Br. J.F. Manuel 1995-1999
• Br. K. Pimenta 1999-2004
• Mr. G.G. Pariat 2005
• Mrs. M.T. Syiem 2006–2014
• Mrs. G. Lyngdoh 2014- 2015
• Br. S.L.Morris 2015-present