Don Bosco School, Park Circus

Don Bosco School, Park Circus
Latin: Virtus et Scientia Virtue and Knowledge
Address
23, Darga Road, Park Circus, Kolkata - 700017 West Bengal, India
Information
Type	Private Minority Educational Institution
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1958
Rector	Rev. Fr. M.J. Jose, S.D.B.
Grades	KG to 12
Gender	Boys
Number of students	3500
Education system	Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
Language	English
Colour(s)	White and Grey
Principal	Rev. Fr. Bikash Mondal, S.D.B.
Assistant Principal	Rev. Fr. Anil Toppo, S.D.B.
Administrator	Rev. Fr. Anil Toppo, S.D.B.
Website	donboscoparkcircus.org

Don Bosco School (Park Circus), located at 23, Darga Road, Kolkata, India, is an all-boys English medium school imparting education from first through twelfth grade. Established in 1958, it is run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, which is a minority institution within the Catholic Church. The school operates under the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education board.

The motto of the institution is Virtus et Scientia, meaning "Virtue and Knowledge". The school's patron saint is St. Dominic Savio.

History

The Catholic order of Salesians of Don Bosco first came to Calcutta in 1925. In early 1955, the order acquired two large plots of land in the Circus Park area of the city on which to build a school. In September of that year work began on constructing the new school. In November 1957, with the building's completion in sight, Rev. Fr. Charles Dyer was appointed the first Rector and Principal of Don Bosco Park Circus. The school officially opened on 15 January 1958 with an intake of 460 boys. The school now has an enrollment of 3000 students. It celebrated its golden jubilee in 2008, the culmination of a year of festivities which began in March 2007.^[1][2]

Rectors

• Rev. Fr. Charles Dyer (1957–1959)
• Rev. Fr. Anthony Doro (1959–1965)
• Rev. Fr. Rozario Stroscio (1965–1966)
• Rev. Fr. Nicolas Flamel (1966–1968)
• Rev. Fr. Attilio Colussi (1968–1974)
• Rev. Fr. Patrick Sheehy (1974–1980)
• Rev. Fr. George Tharayil(1980–1986)
• Rev. Fr. P. P. Varkey (1986–1989)
• Rev. Fr. E. V. Chacko (1989–1992)
• Rev. Fr. T. Pulickal (1992–1995)
• Rev. Fr. M. A. Joseph (1995–2001)
• Rev. Fr. T. V. Jacob (2001–2007)
• Rev. Fr. Siby Joseph Vadakel (2007–2013)
• Rev. Fr. Joseph Pathickal (2013-2016)
• Rev. Fr. M.J Jose ( June, 2016 onward)

School traditions and houses

St. Dominic Savio, the school's patron saint

The school's patron saint is St. Dominic Savio, a pupil of St. John Bosco, who died at the age of fourteen and was made a saint on the basis of his having displayed "heroic virtue" in his everyday life.^[3]

The school uniform is based on the school colours,. The navy blue school blazer (worn by boys from Class VI onwards) displays the school's crest on the pocket. The crest consists of a Christian cross superimposed with a lotus flower and an open book displaying the school motto, Virtus et Scientia (Virtue and Knowledge).

DBPC uses the house system to organise school activities with boys assigned to one of four houses: Savio (red), Bosco (blue), Francis (yellow), and Rua (green).

Academics

Bust of St. John Bosco in the inner courtyard

The school is a Christian Minority Institution recognized by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, Government of India (vide F.No.1710 of 2006, dated 12/01/2007) and Department of Education of the Government of West Bengal, and is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi (School Code WB013) for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (ICSE), the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ISC) and the National Council for Vocational Education and Training.

The method of education followed in the school is the Salesian Preventive System taught and practised by St. John Bosco. It is based on the three pillars of Reason, Religion and Loving Kindness. Classes in Christian Doctrine (Catechism) are compulsory for Christian students. All other students must attend classes of Moral Science/Value Education.

View of the main building and outer courtyard

The ICSE Section (Classes KG to 10) prepares students for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (ICSC) of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination in English, Hindi/Bengali, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, and an elective option of Commercial Applications, Economic Applications or Computer Application. The ISC Section (Classes 11 and 12) accepts students who have passed ICSE or its equivalent, and prepares students for the Indian School Certificate Examination of the Council in two streams: Science and Commerce.

The school's Technical Section, established in 1965, offers a job-oriented training course in Machine-shop Engineering and prepares boys and girls for the following certificates: City and Guilds of London Institute, U.K., Industrial Training Institute (ITI) exam, Don Bosco Technical School Diploma and the Certificate of Vocational Education (CVE) of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi. There is also a non-formal section that gives short-term job oriented training.

School playing field

The school also provides free evening classes for poor children in the area, as well as an adult literacy programme.

Campus

The campus is dominated by the H-shaped four-storey main school building which has an outer courtyard with the statue of Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ and an inner courtyard with a bust of St. John Bosco. In 2013 the school's new library block with further laboratories and classrooms was inaugurated.^[4] The campus also includes a large playing field.

Events

Rabindra Jayanti celebration, 2012

Bosco Fest 2012 with the theme "Passion. Innovation. Exhilaration"

In addition to its annual celebration of Rabindra Jayanti (the birthday of Rabindranath Tagore), Don Bosco, Park Circus hosts several interschool events in Kolkata, the most prominent of which is Bosco Fest. One of Kolkata's oldest inter-school festivals, it is held annually in late July or early August.^[5] The fest initially began with just two events—Bosco Beat (an inter-school band event) and Jubilee Quiz (an Inter-school quizzing event).

Bosco Chriz is an inter-school fest organised by the Young Catholic Students in May each year for other Christian schools of the city. The event was initiated in 2001.

Bosco Empresarios is the inter-school business meet organised by the Commerce Department of the school in November each year. The event was initiated in 2011.

Twinning and exchange programmes

Since 2009, the school has established links with the Salesian School, Chertsey, close to London. Thereafter, students from the UK have been visiting Don Bosco School, Park Circus every year.^[6] The school has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Goethe Institut for greater collaboration and the teaching of German in school. This has allowed students to visit Germany for Inter-cultural language programmes since 2010, under the Schulen: Partner der Zukunft (Schools: Partners for the Future) initiative of the Goethe Institut and the Federal Republic of Germany.^[7]

Notable alumni

• Rakesh Gangwal,Former President, US Airways, co-founder, Indigo Airlines^[8]
• Amitabha Ghosh, planetary geologist and only Asian scientist on NASA's Mars Rover mission^[9]
• Samit Basu, author of the GameWorld trilogy which includes The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore's Secret and The Unwaba Revelations^[10]
• Neel Mukherjee, UK-based critic and author of Past Continuous which won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award for Best Fiction of 2008.
• Aninda Sinha, Physicist.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Don Bosco School, Park Circus.

• Official Website
• DBPC Past Pupils Association
• Salesians of Don Bosco in India

Coordinates: 22°32′39″N 88°22′17″E / 22.544217°N 88.371500°E / 22.544217; 88.371500