La Salle Secondary School, Kota Kinabalu

La Salle School, Kota Kinabalu (Malay: Sekolah Menengah La Salle Kota Kinabalu) is a co-educational secondary school for boys and girls (mostly boys) and one of the oldest schools in Kota Kinabalu.

It was established in 1953 by Father Bernard Davies a Mill Hill Missionary. Despite being a mission school, the students consist of all races regardless of religion.

La Salle Secondary School, Kota Kinabalu is divided into two pieces of land. The Senior Block (form 4 to Form 6), remains at its current location. The Junior Block (Form 1 to Form 3) has been relocated to the new ground to accommodate the increase in student enrollment.

The single-session secondary school is located in Tanjung Aru. It is a few minutes walk from Pekan Tanjung Aru. Next to the Senior Block is SM Stella Maris.

History

The La Salle secondary school can trace its beginnings to the Sacred Heart primary school set up by Father Van Der Heyden in July 1903. From just a handful of students, the school's enrolment went up to 50 by June 1913 and 10 years later increased to 213.

Between 1941 and 1945, a wooden school building with eight classes was built on the site where the current site of the Sacred Heart primary school stands just adjacent to the Sacred Heart cathedral in Karamunsing.

Before the establishment of the secondary school in 1951, Father Bernard Davies, a Mill Hill Missionary started secondary classes at Karamunsing to prepare students for Senior Cambridge Examinations. In 1953, when the Catholic Mission obtained 7.653-acre (30,970 m²) of land in Tanjung Aru, the school was relocated to the current site. It was initially named Sacred Heart Secondary School.

In 1958, the La Salle Brothers came to Jesselton (present Kota Kinabalu and took over the management of Sacred Heart Primary School and Sacred Heart Secondary School. Brother Raphael Egan succeeded Father Arthur Crowther as the Principal. On 22 May 1958, Sacred Heart Secondary School was renamed to La Salle Secondary School after the Founder of the La Sallian Brothers, St. John Baptist De La Salle.

From a single block with wooden plank walls and attap roof, La Salle has evolved into Kota Kinabalu's only two-campus school with the junior (Form 1 to form 3) and senior (Form 4 to Upper Six) blocks.

Brother Charles' retirement as the principal in 1986 marked the end of an era that began some 30 years earlier when the La Salle brothers took over the school's administration from the Catholic Mission.

The school is affiliated to other Lasallian educational institutions in Malaysia.

Principals

• Father Bernard Davies M.H.M (1952–1954)
• Father. Arthur Crowther M.H.M (1954–1958)
• Brother Raphael Eagan FSC (1958–1966)
• Brother Brendan Dunne FSC (1966–1969)
• Datuk Brother Charles Michael O’Leary FSC (1969–1985)

Trivia

• The school was the first in Malaysia to set up its own archive and with the students' involvement and technical advice from the Sabah Archive it has preserved volumes of its records.

• La Salle was the first school in Sabah to set up a buy-back system for recyclable materials such as paper and plastic items. During recess, counters were set up and people turned up and sold their materials to the students.

• La Salle was the first school in Sabah to have their own parliamentary board.

Notable alumni

• Joseph Pairin Kitingan - former state chief minister
• Bernard Dompok - former state chief minister
• Richard Malanjum - current Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak
• Tun Fuad Stephens - former state chief minister
• Ben Stephens - former president of Dewan Negara
• Peter Mojuntin - former state cabinet member

References

• De La Salle Brothers Sabah
• La Salle Secondary School, Kota Kinabalu
• Preserving honour and tradition, The Star, July 28, 2007.