Hebron School, Ooty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hebron School in Udhagamandalam, the hill-station formerly known as Ooty, Tamilnadu, is a residential facility operated by a Protestant/Christian trust mainly to educate the children of Evangelical Protestant missionaries on the field.

The exact denominational affiliation of the school and its operators is not known.

1 History
2 General Information
3 Students
4 Current Management
5 External links

[edit] History

The school traces its origin to 1899, when a group of protestant missionaries who had come to the hills on vacation and were staying at Brooklands Christian Guest Home in nearby Coonoor decided it would be of enormous benefit to the well-being of their children to live year round in the temperate and clean environs of the Nilgiri hills. Due to the high altitude -- Ooty being at 2200m (7500ft) above sea level -- these hills enjoy year-round cool temperatures and abundant rainfall, and their climate has often been compared to European climates. Initially the school operated as a type of boarding house where only children would stay, and either be home-educated in house or sent to one of the local schools.

The school as it is known today was created by consolidating two, or probably three such schools dating back to these British times, including the former Lushington Boys School. For several years the Senior Boys school was situated at Lushington Hall, Ooty, and the Girls school and Junior School were situated at the Silverdale campus in Coonoor, approximately 20km away. In 1974 it was decided that co-education would be more beneficial to the children, and the two schools were amalgamated into one at Lushington Hall Ooty. The senior girls however are still housed separately at Selbourne.

[edit] General Information

The present unified school is simply known as "Hebron School" and is situated in 20 acres of lush woodland around the former stately home of Lushington Hall. It is sometimes known as "Hebron International School", as it was at least for some time recognised by the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) and because there are usually students from over 20 nationalities studying at the school. These come from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds.

The school is very small by Indian standards and consists of around 375 students, though it benefits from good facilities and an exceptionally high Student to Staff ratio. Students follow the International British school system and study for IGCSE's and eventually A and AS level GCE's both of which are generally assessed by the University of Cambridge International Examinations board and by Edexcel, London.

[edit] Students

Dr. Graham Staines's three children, including his two sons who were murdered along with him by Hindu fanatics in the jungles of Orissa, studied here.

Not all students, however, are Protestants. Also, the school is not restricted to the children of missionaries in India alone, but is open to those of missionaries worldwide, with a special emphasis on Asia, Africa and Australasia.