Strathmore School is Kenya's first multi-racial school established in 1961 in the Lavington area of Nairobi district. It began as a residential Sixth Form College offering British-styled A-level courses and in 1963 switched from the Cambridge School Certificate Examination to the London GCE. In 1977 it became a full-fledged Secondary school. In 1988, the school began offering education under the KCSE - Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education - curricula which it follows to date. The first batch of Primary school students (6-7 year olds) entered in 1987. It no longer has any boarders.
Contents |
The school uniform consists of a cream shirt, mid-grey trousers, grey socks and black shoes. The tie has black, white and blue stripes. The blazer is navy blue, normally won by students on Mondays. The sweater is sky blue and does not have the school badge on it.
'The Scroll' was first published in 1963. The last edition was published in 2006 in order to make way for an interactive DVD called The Scroll Digital (nicknamed 'digital').
In 1986 a book titled 'Strathmore Remembered', with the 25 year history of the school was published.
Every year the school honours two outstanding students graduating. One being the Sportsman of the Year, and the other the Scholar of the Year. Those who are honoured have their names engraved on an 'Honours Board' at the school. There is also an Honours Board for the Primary School Scholar of the Year.
Since 1961 only one person has been awarded both Honours, James McFie in 1963.
Every year the top three students academically in each class are awarded the school pennant. The school does not award any colours to students.
Strathmore School prides itself as one of the few schools, if not the only school, in Kenya, that does not have prefects.
The school does not have houses. Students elect class leaders (captains and vice captains) who chose their classmates into their teams (Ndovu, Nyati, Chui and Simba). This is done in each class and there is no relation with teams in other classes (thus there is no house system) as every team works for itself.
There are two streams in the secondary, A and ALPHA. Both streams are rivals with members of each stream remembering their attachment even several years after finishing school. Many of the alumni remain attached to their stream, calling each other 'A' or 'Alpha' guys.
Their biggest sporting rivals are St. Mary’s School, next door neighbors and a sporting powerhouse in Kenya.
The rugby team is known as The Bandits. In 2008 they were the winners of the St. Mary's Blackrock Festival, the biggest schools rugby festival in Kenya. However, they were beaten by their rivals Saints, the eventual winners in the semi-finals of the 2010 edition of the festival. They wear striped shirts of black, blue and white.
Other teams are the Pirates (basketball) and Stallions (volleyball), who won the Nairobi provincial league several times in the 1970s. The cricket team are known as the Stalwarts.
The doctrinal and religious formation in Strathmore is entrusted to Opus Dei, a prelature of the Catholic Church.
Strathmore School was ranked the second best high school in Kenya based on 2006 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education [1].