St. Mary's School, Mumbai or St. Mary's School I.C.S.E, is a private Catholic secondary school for boys located in Mazagaon, Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, India. Founded by the Jesuits in 1864, the school is affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). The school is amongst the oldest, continually running, private schools in India. It is also ranked amongst the top elite day schools in the country.
History
St. Mary's School was founded in 1864 by members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. The school is located adjacent to St. Anne's Church which was established in 1860. The school began as a Catholic school of education and a military orphanage. Later it opened to the Catholic populace in general, which led to expansion and to the construction of the building that now houses the senior school, whose foundation stone was laid by Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943. At present, the school has four Gothic-style buildings and is divided into Senior School (grades 5 and above) and Junior School (grades 4 and below). The school offers various sports facilities to the students, which include a gymnasium, basketball arena, and two grass turfed football grounds.
In 1933, St. Mary's High School SSC was carved out of the main St. Mary's School – which at the tie offered the British General Certicate of Education to offer students the opportunity to focus on completion of the Secondary School Certificate. St. Mary's switched to the ICSE Indian Certificate of Secondary Education curriculum in the year 1958 – thereby, becoming one of the early adopters of the system. The school re-commenced offering the Indian School Certificate diploma (equivalent to the Cambridge A-Level) in 2021.
In recognition of its contribution in the field of education the Chief Postmaster General for Maharashtra released a special postal cover commemorating the school's 150th anniversary on 7 December 2013.
St. Mary's has continually been ranked amongst the top schools of the country. As per Education World's 2021–2022 survey, the school is ranked 2nd nationwide in the category of 'Day School for Boys'.
Students are encouraged in the arts and sports. Many amongst the school's alumni have flourished in theatre, music, and Bollywood.
Principals
The following individuals have served as principal of the school: Fr. Pereira, S.J, ??-1982 Fr. Casale, S.J., 1982-1991 Fr. Joe Saldanha, S.J., 1991–1995 Fr. Joe Diabrio, 1995 Fr. Evarist Newnes, S.J., 1997–2009 Alice Carvalho, 2009–2011 Fr. Dr. Kenneth Misquitta, S.J., 2011–2015 Fr. Dr. Francis Swamy, S.J., 2015–2021 Clementine Monteiro, 2021–present
Notable alumni
Business and economics
Dilip Abreu – Princeton economist
Azim Premji – Chairman of Wipro Limited
Gautam Singhania – Chairman & MD of the Raymond Group
Law
Joseph 'Kaka' Baptista – barrister, unionist, political activist, founder of the Indian Home Rule movement, and Mayor of Bombay A. G. Noorani – lawyer, constitutional expert and political commentator Homer Pithawalla – leading expert in corporate law and competition law; Professor of Law at Government Law College, Mumbai Goolam Essaji Vahanvati – Attorney General of India
Literature
Homi K. Bhabha – professor at Harvard University
Dom Moraes – writer and poet
Performing arts
Sooraj Barjatya – Hindi film director
Tushar Hiranandani – Hindi film director
Boman Irani – theatre and Bollywood actor
Arjun Mathur – Bollywood actor
Zubin Mehta – orchestral conductor
Freddie Mercury – singer, songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Queen
Sorabh Pant – stand-up comedian
Farukh Sheikh – Bollywood actor
Kunal Vijaykar – actor and director
Medicine
Ritam Chowdhury – physician, epidemiologist, biostatistician, writer, poet, Harvard faculty member Tehemton Erach Udwadia – gastroenterologist
Sports
Shishir Hattangadi – Bombay cricket captain
Vijay Mohanraj – Ranji Trophy cricketer for Mumbai
Rehan Poncha – Olympic swimmer (2008 Beijing Summer Olympics), Arjuna Awardee
Adille Sumariwalla – Olympic sprinter (1980 Moscow Summer Olympics), Arjuna Awardee Rajesh Sanghi - Ranji Trophy Cricket for Rajasthan
Science
Vijay Balasubramanian – theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania