Loyola School, Jamshedpur


Loyola School, Jamshedpur, India, is a private, Jesuit, Kindergarten - 12th grade school situated on a large, leafy campus in the Beldih Triangle in Jamshedpur, in state of Jharkhand, India. Students, staff, and alumni of Loyola, Jamshedpur, are known as Loyoleans. The institution was established in 1947 by the Jesuit missionaries from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, belonging to the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540. The school had previously been a boys school with the exception of girls studying only in standards 11 and 12, but in 2001 turned co-educational.
Loyola School, Jamshedpur, consistently ranks among the best schools in India.

The school crest

The "chakra" or wheel on the left-hand corner is found in the center of India’s Tri-colour and stands for progress. The symbol on the right is the logo of the Society of Jesus - the Jesuits - which gives the universal trait of the Jesuits - being all things to all people. The symbol in the bottom left corner is a ladle from Tata Steel's blast furnace in Jamshedpur and signifies that the school is located in India’s Steel City. The symbol in the right-hand corner of two wolves drinking out of a cauldron is taken from the coat of arms to be found in the Castle of Loyola, Spain, the birthplace of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Society. The Latin motto "IN CARITATE ET JUSTITIA" appearing on the ribbon underlining the base of the crest translates to "In charity and justice". The universal motto of the Society of Jesus is "AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIUM" meaning "For the greater glory of God".

Fests, events, and news

Etrix is the annual computer fest of Loyola School, organised by the school's Computer Club. It was formerly known as Abacus.
The Thomas Paul Science Quiz is an annual, inter-school event in memory of one of the former teacher of the school, Thomas Paul. It is an inter-school event and most schools of the city participate in it.
The Battle Of Minds is an intra school quiz organized by the school's GK Club which churns out the finest quizzers from the school and prepares them for inter-school quizzes. From 2013, a new event named Battle Of Legends was also started for those who have brought laurels to the school in quizzes from the passing out batch. Loyola Jamshedpur can be also called the quizzing base of Jamshedpur.
Ameliora and Veritas are English fests organized by the Debating Club of the school. They feature events including "Point of View", a debate in which participants represent a country and speak on a topic as if they were a member of that country. "Mime Time" is a mime acting event and "Sonorous" a standard declamation. "A Cut Above" is a movie review while "Point Blank" is a personal interview. Events like "Lit-rapture", aka creative writing, and "Contradix" complete the scenario.
Helix is an annual maths extravaganza conducted by the Maths Club, held for budding maths geniuses in the city.
The school plays host to entertainment events. Rhapsody is the annual extravaganza organised by the JYOTI unit of Loyola School. Tamanna, a showpiece event, was held in the XLRI Auditorium for three consecutive years, as a platform for singers, dancers, and performers in the school. In 2011, it was organised in the Assembly Ground, and included a special audience of underprivileged, as well as handicapped children, from the local charitable organisations.
In 2017 Loyola witnessed 'Azionare', this two-day fest was a joint effort of eight clubs namely, Debating Club, Computer club, Maths club, Physics, and Chemistry club, Art & Craft club, Astronomy club, Entrepreneurship club & Entertainment club. More than 500 students from over 17 schools of the city participated in 'Azionare'. This event saw a number of new subevents in the on stage as well as the offstage category. Epic Personality Battle and Sing with the Sand were first to be performed on stage in the city. Events like Gauntlet, Sherlock in Space, Soap Carving also were new to the city. Prestigious quizzes like the Thomas Paul Science Quiz, Abacus and the Cyclotron were also held under the 'Azionare' banner. The annual was held in 2018 and 2019 as well.
The school has undergone major upgrades. Apart from a new computer lab for the junior school, the chemistry lab has been upgraded. The former Jesuit hostel has been turned into a staff room for the teachers. A new library named Knowledge Centre has been constructed. Examination Centres has been constructed in 3rd and 4th floor of Knowledge Centre. Handball court, Basketball court and CNR Ground has been renovated. The Senior School Computer Lab and the Physics Lab have been updated.
In 2014, Ayush Banerjee, a student of Loyola, topped the ISC exam with a 99.25% aggregate and near-perfect scores in all subjects.
In August 2015 Loyola's new Fasy auditorium was inaugurated with all the modern facilities.

House system

The students as well as the faculty are divided into four houses - Panthers, Cheetahs, Leopards and Jaguars. The students from these houses compete throughout the year and the House Championship is given to the house with maximum points after the Annual Sports Day, which is generally held in early December.

Uniform

All uniforms have a monogram according to house colour.

The Loyolean

"The Loyolean", first published in 1992, is the official biannual magazine of Loyola School, Jamshedpur. It was started due to the interest shown by the students of XII Commerce 1993 batch who were supported by the then principal Father Eric Cassel and Mrs Leela Ghose, and is the successor to an earlier newspaper called "Jai Loyola" which was discontinued in the 80's. One of the only student-published magazines in East India, it frequently deals with matters of importance for teenagers and students in general.
The magazine is edited, illustrated, designed and typeset solely by the members of the Loyola Press Club with the support of its moderator, and consists mostly of contributions from students, teachers, and alumni, along with regular reports and articles by members of the LPC. Most of its content is in English, although a few pages of Hindi articles are also present. In 2011, a digitally illustrated comic strip was added to the magazine. This trend has continued ever since this issue.
A special annual edition of the Loyolean was introduced instead of the bi-annual editions. This issue also saw the introduction of a section-wise arrangement of the magazine and 8 coloured pages to give it a more appealing identity. The Editors also did away with the previous system and also brought on board the students of Standard 10.

Notable alumni