Loreto Convent is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-medium girls' primary and secondary school located in Chauk Bazar,

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is run by Loreto Education Society of Darjeeling. The school is affiliated to the ICSE and ISC boards of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

History

The Loreto Sisters came to India in 1841 at the invitation of the then Archbishop of Calcutta, Dr. Carew. The school was established during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

by a group of

Sisters of Loreto 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 ...

at 1846 to begin their work of 'quality education'. with the assistance of some lay gentlemen the land arrangements were made. Two choir

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents 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 refer to ...

and a lay Sister with their chaplain came to start on 2 October 1846, Loreto House Branch Boarding and Day School. The party consisted of Mother Teresa Mons, Superioress, Mother Mary de Chantel Kelly with two novices. They were accompanied by Fr. John Me Girr. The Sisters began with two students, Miss Ryves and Miss Emma Moran. The sisters moved from their first residence "Snowy View" to the new Convent building on 1 May 1847 and the school building was added in 1853 which had particularly large playgrounds. The sisters continued their work of education under Bishop Carew but in 1848 they were brought under the Vicariate of Patna and Bishop Hartman. The Capuchin Ecclesiastical Superior paid his visit to the convent in April 1848. This brought Loreto Convent to a new phase where it ceased to be connected with the parent house in Calcutta- this state of things lasted till 1881. The girls were getting quality education and were proficient in English, French and had a good taste for music and drawing. The numbers went up slowly, in 1852 there were 19 pupils and in 1855 there were 30 pupils. By 1875, there were 107 and by the Golden Jubilee year, there were 173 pupils. The convent also had a small orphanage for mainly soldiers' children which existed till 1887 when the orphans were transferred to Calcutta, i.e., Entally. In 1903, a new concert hall was built. In the same year, a new Novitiate was canonically erected and the novices came from

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bar ...

in 1904. Mother Antoinette played a major role in the lives of the soldiers' and nurses during the World War II as they were housed in the Novitiate building. To keep in step with the educational developments, the Cambridge examinations were introduced in Darjeeling (1905) and the first three candidates presented were successful. From the turn of the century, the number of boarders grew and by 1917, there were 211 students out of which 117 were boarders. By 1926, Mr. Arthur Forbes of Purnea had set up a line of fine buildings as the children began to grow in numbers. The dining room, dressing rooms, the skating rink and the Lytton hospital were completed. the school expanded and developed and provided holistic education. The hostel was the home of children for many South-Asian children and those from Calcutta, Purnea and other places. In 1988, the school hostel had to close due to the threats of agitation. Loreto is presently a neighborhood school with 1600 pupils from every strata of society with the same benefits of 'all round education'.

Notable alumni

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(1872–1950), Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guruSchool profile
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(1913–1967), British two-time

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-winning film and stage actress *

Leila Seth Leila Seth (20 October 1930 – 5 May 2017) was an Indian judge who served as the first woman judge on the Delhi High Court and became the first woman to become Chief Justice of a state High Court, Himachal Pradesh High Court, on 5 August 19 ...

(1930–2017), first female Chief Justice of an Indian state * Princess Shanti Singh of Nepal (1941–2001) *

Princess Sharada Shah of Nepal Princess Sharada Shah of Nepal or Sharada Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (February 2, 1942 – June 1, 2001) was the middle daughter of King Mahendra of Nepal. Princess Sharada and her husband, ''Kumar'' Khadga, were two of the ten members of the Nepales ...

(1943–2001) * Princess Shobha Shahi of Nepal (born 1949) * Princess Jayanti Shah of Nepal (1946–2001) * Princess Yangchen Dolma Namgyal of Sikkim (born 1956) *

Jetsun Pema Jetsun Pema ( dz, རྗེ་བཙུན་པདྨ་; Wylie: rje btsun padma, born on 4 June 1990) is the Druk Gyaltsuen (Dzongkha: Dragon Queen) of Bhutan, as the wife of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. She is currently the young ...

(born 1940), activist, sister of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{coord missing, West Bengal

Catholic secondary schools in India Catholic boarding schools in India Schools in Colonial India Christian schools in West Bengal Boarding schools in West Bengal Primary schools in West Bengal High schools and secondary schools in West Bengal Girls' schools in West Bengal Schools in Darjeeling district Education in Darjeeling Educational institutions established in 1846 1846 establishments in British India