# Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted

Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted (Vietnamese: Trường Trung học Phổ thông chuyên Lê Hồng Phong; formerly Petrus Ký High School) is a highly selective high school in Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam. Established in 1927, the school is one of the oldest high schools still operating in Vietnam.

## History

Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted was the third high school founded in Saigon by French colonizers, after the Collège Chasseloup-Laubat (now Le Quy Don High School) and Collège de Jeunes Filles Indigènes (now Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai High School). In 1925, Architect Ernest Hebrard was commissioned to design the school in Chợ Quán.
On 28 November 1927, a temporary branch of Collège Chasseloup-Laubat, called Collège de Cochinchine, was founded in Chợ Quán for native students. The branch was under the management of the Board at Collège Chasseloup-Laubat.
The construction of the school was completed in 1928. On 11 August 1928, the interim Governor-General of French Indochina, René Robert, signed Decree no. 3116 to establish a native French secondary school (Lycée), combining Collège de Cochinchine and about 200 pupils from Collège Chasseloup Laubat. The Governor Blanchard de la Brosse named the school Lycée Petrus Trương Vĩnh Ký, in honour of Vietnamese Catholic scholar Pétrus Trương Vĩnh Ký. The school was known as Petrus Ký High School for almost a half-century.
Lycée Petrus Truong Vinh Ky, commonly referred to as Lycée Petrus, commenced the first day on October 1, 1928. The first principal was Mr. Sainte Luce Banchelin, the bureau's Mr. Boulé, the banker Mahé. The chairman of the board is Mr. Gazano and the Vietnamese members are: Mr. Nguyen Thanh Giung, Ph.D., chemist, contract professor, Mr. Ho Bao Toan and Mr. Tran Le Quat. The officials are parents French commissioners Sainte Luce Banchelin and Mahé. The president is the Principal and the members are: John, Painting Professor, Mr. Paquier, Professor of Literature, Mr. Nguyen Van Nho, Professor of Literature, Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong, and supervisor and secretary is Mr. Boulé.
There are two levels of study: Enseignement primaire supérieur Franco-indigène (DEPSI) and French Secondary (enseignement secondaire Franco-indigène).
The first course consisted of 10 students who received a partial scholarship and 43 students who received a full scholarship. This grade was divided into 3 classes: 1ère année, 2ème année and 3ème année. 18 classes: 3 classes 4ème année, 5 classes 3ème année, 5 classes 2ème année and 5 classes 1ère année. In this school year, Tran Van Trach, special commissioner of Nam Ky Governor bought books for the Petrus Ky Library. In the school year 1928-1929 was the subject of social concern through an article published in the newspaper La Tribune Indochinoise on January 4, 1929 with content Lycée Petrus Ky for native students treated as relatives. After the paper, in the second academic year, Mr. Banchelin was renamed and Mr. Paul Valencot, a professorial master of master's degree, was appointed principal in August 1929 and the Governor of Nam appointed Mr. Renault, chairman of the Cholon Marketing Board, replacing Mr. Gazano as the chairman of the board.
In 1941, the school was temporarily relocated to the Pedagogical College of Saigon due to the war. It resumed its regular teaching activities in the same year, at its own establishment. In 1945, the school was temporarily closed after evacuating to Tan Dinh school district. It re-opened in April 1946 in a seminary on Lucien Mossard street. It returned to Chợ Quán in the year 1947.
In 1961, it became a secondary school in the Southern Vietnamese educational system. In 1976, the school was renamed after a former general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Lê Hồng Phong, and became a high school. In 1990, it was made a high school for the gifted students. Its current name is Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted.

## Institution

Lê Hồng Phong, together with High School for the Gifted (Phổ Thông Năng Khiếu) and Trần Đại Nghĩa High School, make up the Big 3 of "Highly selective" schools (trường chuyên) in Hồ Chí Minh City and in Southern Vietnam, having achieved significant numbers of awards in both domestic and international academic competitions.

## Recognitions

* In 1989, the school was awarded the 3rd Level Labour Medal by the President of Vietnam.
* In 2001, the school was awarded the 2nd Level Labour Medal by the President of Vietnam.
* In 2007, the school was awarded the 1st Level Labour Medal by the President of Vietnam.

## Staff

The school has 20 departments whose staff bear different responsibilities of teaching and operating the institution.
In 2018, Le Hong Phong department of Mathematics has 26 teachers who are graduated from the higher education system, including 1 doctor, 8 masters and many teachers who are studying postgraduate. Group teachers are well-versed in their teaching and have extensive experience in teaching, actively contributing to the school's activities, training generations of excellent students for the City and Country. The dynamic and creative young teachers have great potential to take part in teaching profession and fostering good students effectively. The Maths Team is a solid, friendly, professional, experienced and enthusiastic team. Following the textbook program of the Ministry of Education, the Mathematical Team organizes the application of unified documents for each block 10, 11, 12 very effectively. Mathematical teams take the lead in applying information technology to teaching and there is always innovation in teaching methods. In addition, the Math Club offers an extra-curricular course for students to solve mathematical calculations using Casio's pocket calculator and has achieved high rankings in both the City and State levels. For many years, the team has won the title of "Excellent Labor Collective" - many of them have received certificates of merit from the People's Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Prime Minister and many other noble rewards. Other achievements in teaching and fostering good students.

## Academic reputation

In 2018, the school admitted fewer 500 highest-scored students (from the total 3252 applicants that are widely considered to be the most competitive out of 70,054 students in the same year) through the annual year-10 academic entrance examination. The school has remained the most selective one in South Vietnam for nearly a century, since its establishment.

## Petrus Ky students in the war era

In 1940, the Petrus Ký Student Club was founded. The club organised extra-curricular activities including performing arts, sports, camping, attracting students from within and outside Petrus Ký. It was during this time that the students Lưu Hữu Phước and Mai Văn Bộ [vi] (later ambassador) wrote "La Marche des Étudiants" song, the predecessor of the patriotic "Tiếng Gọi Thanh Niên (Call to the Young)", "Tiếng Gọi Công Dân (Call to the Citizens)" and "Quốc Ca của Việt Nam Cộng Hòa (The National Anthem of the Republic of Vietnam, National anthem of South Vietnam)".
Within a year, the club and its activities were prohibited by the French-Indochina government. In 1942, Petrus Ký students, inspired by students in Hanoi, founded an organisation named S.E.T. (Section Exécution Tourisme). The organisation functioned as a scout programme aiming at developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities. During this time, several Petrus Ký professors such as Phạm Thiều, Lê Văn Chí and Trần Văn Thanh, also subtly professed their patriotism in lectures.

## Principals

| School year | Principal |
| 1927–1929 | Sainte Luce Banchelin |
| 1929–1931 | Paul Valencot |
| 1931–1933 | Andre Neveu |
| 1933–1938 | Paul Valencot |
| 1938–1944 | Le Jeannic |
| 1944–1947 | Taillade |
| 1947–1951 | Lê Văn Khiêm |
| 1951–1955 | Phạm Văn Còn |
| 1955–1957 | Nguyễn Văn Kính |
| 1957–1958 | Nguyễn Văn Thơ |
| 1958–1960 | Nguyễn Văn Trương |
| 1960–1963 | Phạm Văn Lược |
| 1963–1964 | Nguyễn Thanh Liêm |
| 1964–1966 | Trần Ngọc Thái |
| 1966–1969 | Trần Văn Thử |
| 1969–1971 | Trần Ngọc Thái |
| 1971-1971 | Trần Văn Nhơn |
| 1971–1973 | Bùi Vĩnh Lập |
| 1973–1975 | Nguyễn Minh Đức |
| 1975–1977 | Nguyễn Văn Thiện |
| 1977–1991 | La Thị Hạnh |
| 1991–1997 | Nguyễn Hữu Danh |
| 1997–2005 | Đặng Thanh Châu |
| 2005–2013 | Võ Anh Dũng |
| 2014–2019 | Nguyễn Thị Yến Trinh |
| 2019–present | Phạm Thị Bé Hiền |

## Notable alumni

* Trần Đại Nghĩa, military scientist, ingénieur, inventor
* Lê Tự Quốc Thắng, Professor in Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, known for Le-Murakami-Ohtsuki invariant.
* Lê Diệp Kiều Trang, Businesswoman, Ex-director of Facebook and Gojek in Vietnam
* Trần Minh Triết, Vice President of University of Science, VNU-HCM
* Cathy Thao Tran, Founder of Ohana
* Đỗ Cao Trí - Army of the Republic of Vietnam general, commander of III Corps
* Lê Minh Đảo - Army of the Republic of Vietnam general, commander of the 18th Division

### Politics and law

* Nguyễn Văn Chì
* Trần Văn Ơn [vi], political activist
* Huỳnh Tấn Phát
* Nguyễn Văn Trấn [vi]
* Mai Văn Bộ [vn]
* Huỳnh Văn Tiểng [vi]
* Trương Tấn Sang, seventh president of Vietnam
* Nguyễn Minh Triết, sixth president of Vietnam
* Nguyễn Thái Bình [vi], anti-Vietnam war activist in United States
* Nguyễn Tiến Trung
* Trần Ngọc Liễng - lawyer

### Culture

* Trúc Hồ
* Trần Văn Khê, Honorary Member of the International Music Council of UNESCO, director of research at CNRS and professor at the Sorbonne
* Nguyễn Văn Trấn [vi]
* Mai Văn Bộ [vi]
* Huỳnh Văn Tiểng [vi]
* Lưu Hữu Phước, recipient of the Hồ Chí Minh Prize in 1996
* Hoàng Thanh Tâm [vi]
* Trần Lê
* Cẩm Ly, pop singer in Vietnam war era
* Trương Minh Quốc Thái [vi]
* Đức Tuấn [vi]
* Hà Anh Tuấn, popular R&B singer
* Tóc Tiên
* Uyên Linh, winner of the third season of Vietnam Idol in 2010
* Cao Toàn Mỹ