# Loyola High School and Junior College (Pune)

Loyola High School and Junior College is a private Catholic primary and secondary school located in Pashan, Pune, India. Founded by the Jesuits in 1961, the school provides a single-sex education for boys only from K to Grade X; and a co-educational environment in the pre-university college, for grades XI and XII.

## History

The school was founded in the early 1960s. Fr. Rudolph Schoch, S.J. had dreamt of the site where the school is now situated and requested the National Chemical Laboratory (who owned the land) to set up a school. Land was leased.
In 1965-66, 29 boys appeared for their Matriculate (Class XI) and all 29 got a First Division, with seven Distinctions. One lad came first in the state, but was relegated to 2nd for an unknown reason. The prominent industrialist, Racehorse owner and ex- Member of the Committee at Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd., Mr. Vijay Shirke was among the seven distinctions.
With all rooms available, it was time to move the Jesuits into a community house of their own, and use all rooms on the three floors, numbering 30, as classrooms. In the mid-eighties, the local rule on pupil strength per class was amended to increase boys per class to thirty five. The school could now accommodate over 1000 students. A small temporary seminary for eight was built behind the school, extending westwards, which was adequate, but there was no assembly hall or space for comprehensive laboratories. It was decided to integrate the extant seminary with a much larger and fully equipped Laboratory Section being erected directly behind the School and build a separate walled-in seminary just off the approach road to the School, to the East. The Principal and other Jesuits moved into this building.

## Principals

The following individuals have served as principal of the school:
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| 1 | Fr. Rudolph Schoch, SJ | 1960 | 1961 | 0–1 years |
| 2 | Fr. Anton Rehm, SJ | 1961 | 1963 | 1–2 years |
| 3 | Fr. Alphonse Oesch, SJ | 1963 | 1966 | 2–3 years |
| (1) | Fr. Rudolph Schoch, SJ | 1966 | 1973 | 6–7 years |
| 4 | Fr. Vincent Gomes Catao, SJ | 1973 | 1976 | 2–3 years |
| 5 | Fr. Kenneth Misquitta, SJ | 1976 | 1978 | 1–2 years |
| 6 | Fr. Vincent D’Souza, SJ | 1978 | 1979 | 0–1 years |
| 7 | Fr. Joseph Toscano, SJ | 1979 | 1983 | 3–4 years |
| 8 | Fr. Thomas Ambrose, SJ | 1983 | 1984 | 0–1 years |
| (4) | Fr. Vincent Gomes Catao, SJ | 1984 | 1986 | 1–2 years |
| 9 | Fr. Vivian Lobo, SJ | 1986 | 1990 | 3–4 years |
| 10 | Fr. Sabio Rodrigues, SJ | 1990 | 1993 | 2–3 years |
| 11 | Fr. Anil Soares, SJ | 1993 | 1996 | 2–3 years |
| 12 | Fr. Joseph Palliparambil, SJ | 1996 | 2003 | 6–7 years |
| 13 | Miss Fatima Oliver | 2003 | 2007 | 3–4 years |
| 14 | Fr. James Thorat, SJ | 2007 | 2011 | 3–4 years |
| 15 | Fr. Mario Fernandes, SJ | 2011 | 2014 | 2–3 years |
| 16 | Fr. Robert Das, SJ | 2014 | 2016 | 1–2 years |
| 17 | Fr. Francis Patekar, SJ | 2016 | 2017 | 0–1 years |
| 18 | Fr. Thomas Nelton, SJ | 2017 | 2019 | 1–2 years |
| 19 | Fr. Anish, SJ | 2019 | 2024 | 5–6 years |
| 20 | Fr. Thomas Nelton, SJ | 2024 | | |

## Alumni associations

The Ex-Loyola Students' Association (ELSA) arranged career seminars, inter-school quiz competitions, sponsored the school magazine, and arranged the school's 25th year celebrations. Today ELSA stands inactive but the Ex-Loyola Alumni Network (ELAN) was formed by another generation of alumni. ELAN has been active since 1997. It organises annual get-togethers for ex-students. It is now the official alumni body of the school and ELSA is merged to ELAN. ELAN supports school activities and assists former teachers. ELAN planned the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the school in 2010-2011.