# St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling

St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling, popularly called North Point or N.P. (as it serves as a landmark for the North Point locality in Darjeeling), is a private Catholic school primary and secondary school for boys located in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Originally called St. Joseph's College, the school was founded in the year 1888 and is owned and managed by the Jesuits

## History

St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling was founded by Fr. Henri Depelchin with 25 students on 13 February 1888, at Sunnybank, Darjeeling. It was shifted to its present location in 1892. North Point celebrated its 125th year anniversary on 10 November 2013 which was graced by the presence of the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

## School system

The school is divided into four divisions:
* Primary Division – Classes 3, 4 and 5
* Lower Division – Classes 6, 7 and 8
* Upper Division – Classes 9 and 10
* Senior Division – Classes 11 and 12
The Primary division has eight captains, the lower division has eight head boys, the upper division has eight prefects, the senior division has eight beadles.These are the student representatives and leaders of the school from both the boarding and day scholar sections of the school, appointed on leadership, academic, and sportsmanship abilities. Also all the classes in the school have two monitors, one from the boarding section and other one from day scholar section.
The school provides facilities for various games such as cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, chess; and also engages in co-curricular activities such as quiz, debate, music and drama. Over the years of its long history, the school has developed a competitive rivalry in Inter-School Tournaments with the other Anglo-Indian schools of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, particularly St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, and St. Augustine's School, Kalimpong.

## House system

The school has four houses:
* Depelchin House (Red)
* Fallon House (Blue)
* Laenen House (Yellow)
* O'Neil House (Green)

## Publications

The school has a number of publications, which include the North Point Weekly, the Among Ourselves (monthly), and the North Point Annual (yearly), all compiled and edited by the students' Editorial Board.

## School rankings

In 2020, St. Joseph's School, North Point ranked second among boarding schools in Darjeeling and West Bengal and, in 2021, eleventh in India according to the Education-World India School Rankings. The school has consistently been regarded as among the most prestigious boarding schools in India.

## Notable alumni

* Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira – ninth Chief of Naval Staff
* Erick Avari – Hollywood actor
* E J Anthony – Founding member of Group Analytic Society and child Psychiatrist
* Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev – former King of Nepal
* Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev – former King of Nepal
* Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev – former Crown Prince of Nepal
* Lawrence Durrell – poet and novelist
* Michael Ferreira – world billiard champion
* William John Harper—Rhodesian politician
* Jamyang Norbu – Tibetan activist and author
* Cardinal Lawrence T. Picachy – Archbishop of Calcutta
* Kasit Piromya – former Foreign Minister of Thailand
* Frank Ryan – first-class cricketer
* Tsoltim Ngima Shakabpa – international banker, activist, writer and poet
* Jigme Singye Wangchuck – former King of Bhutan
* Yeshey Zimba – former Prime Minister of Bhutan
* Brian Hayes - Australian KC and co-producer of the movie "Hotel Mumbai"
* Jeremy Bujakowski - Polish–Indian alpine skier
* Pratapaditya Pal - Art-historian