St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun

St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun (or SJA) is a co-educational Indian Certificate of Secondary Education school in Dehradun, the capital of the state of Uttarakhand in India.  Founded in 1934, the school is governed by the Society of the Brothers of St. Patrick (Ireland).  It is located in the heart of the city of Dehradun on the main thoroughfare Rajpur Road. 

St. Joseph's Academy, Dehradun celebrated the bicentenary of the Patrician Society and the school's 75th anniversary in 2009. 

History
St. Joseph's Academy was formally opened and blessed on 2 March 1934 by Rev. Fr.  Antanasius.  Rev. Bro.  A.M. Keogh was the first principal of SJA.  When it opened its doors the roll-call was 21; in 1959, over a thousand students were attending the school.  At present, the school has a student strength of 3400 and 120 teachers. 

St. Joseph's Academy has an auditorium, built in 1984 and inaugurated by Mother Teresa.  The auditorium has a sitting capacity of nearly 1300. 

In 2004 St. Joseph's completed 70 years, to commemorate the occasion, the play ‘Peter Pan’ was staged.  The musical 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was staged in 2006 and on the 80th anniversary the musical 'Anandsagar' was staged. 

Motto
The school motto (Latin) is "Laborare Est Orare", which means "Work is Worship". 

School song
How fair is the far spreading vale of the Doon
In clear sparkling sunshine or darkling monsoon,
But the spot we love best of the beauty spots there
Is St. Joseph’s the pride of the valley so fair? 

She calls us to loyalty, honour and truth,
To wear Joseph’s lily in bright blameless youth,
And e’en to old age may her lessons remain,
To live our lives bravely and die without stain

Let our voices ring out o’er the Doon’s verdant vale,
In a jubilant shout, as we tell the proud tale
Of the name and the fame of the best school of all,
Of our dear Alma Mater and answer her call,

So Academicians in work and in play,
You’ll swiftly and happily pass each glad day,
Of the years bright and brief that will end all too soon
In St. Joseph’s the pearl of the vale of the Doon. 

Academics
The school is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.  The school conducts the standard 10th ICSE and the standard 12th ISC examinations. 

SJA offers education from Kindergarten to Class 12th, with five to six sections in each class.  Students have a choice to study Science or Commerce after Class 10th.  Most recently, Bhuvanya Vijay was the all India ISC topper in 2013 with 99% marks. 

House system
The student body is divided into four different houses.  This is done to cultivate in the students a sense of competitiveness, dedication and teamwork.  Events such as Cultural Week(CONFLUENCE), the Sports-Day and the House Cup are held in the year. 

The four houses of the school are:
 Bergin (Blue)
 Donovan (Yellow)
 Dooley (Green)
 Duffy (Red)

The houses are named after the former Principals of the school. 

Cultural week
Cultural Week was first a non-competitive show wherein students performed in events such music, dramatics, dance, debate, and G.K. Quizzes.  It was changed to a 3–4 days, Inter-House competitive event in 1996.  Discontinued for a few years, a Cultural Week was organized on the 75th anniversary of the school, in 2009.  Bro.  A.J. George restarted the cultural week and now it is a biennial event.  It was renamed 'CONFLUENCE' in 2017. 

Sports
It has teams for cricket, football, basketball, hockey, lawn tennis, table tennis, badminton, volleyball and chess.  Students compete in inter-house events as well as inter-school events.  The school teams have won inter-school competitions hosted by the Board as well as district tournaments. 

Sports Day
The Annual Athletics Meet events are short races (100m, 200m, 400m), long races (800m, 1500m), javelin, short-put, long-jump, high jump and relay races.  Students participate in the categories of Sub-juniors, Juniors, and Seniors.  The final event of the day is the cycle race.  The school awards trophies for individual performance followed by the inter-house shield; awarded to the house with maximum points on the day. 

Student Council
The Student Council has 38 members.  Council members are chosen by the faculty and Principal.  Members lead their houses in inter-house and inter-school events throughout the year.  The breakdown is as follows:
  2 House Captains (1 male, 1 female).  Appointed in class 12, on basis of academic achievements. 
  2 Sports Captains (1 male, 1 female).  Appointed in class 12, on basis of athletic performance in the Sports Day, or any other sports-related achievements such as being a national- or international-level player. 
  1 Cultural prefect (Male or Female).  Appointed in class 12, on basis of cultural contributions to the house, such as representing the school in inter-school events, or the Cultural Week
  2 Vice prefects (1 male, 1 female).  Appointed in class 11, if he has shown to have potential to be a prefect or head boy/girl in the future.  Usually on basis of academic achievement. 
  2 Special Prefects (Both Males or Females or 1 male and 1 female)

In addition to these, there is a Head Boy and Head Girl. 

Notable alumni
The school has an official alumni association that has its own website. 
 Prahlad Kakkar - Founder and key Directors for Genesis Film Productions, an Indian production houses, established in 1977. 
 Vijai Singh Shekhawat - Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. 
 Nitin Sahrawat - Actor, environmentalist. 
 Jubin Nautiyal - Indian playback singer
 Abhimanyu Easwaran-First class cricketer
 Anirudh Thapa-India under 19 football team captain
 Pranati Rai Prakash-Winner of India's next top model. 
 Prem Rawat-Spiritual Leader. 
 Navtej Sarna-Author-columnist and diplomat (former Ambassador to United States, High Commissioner to UK and Ambassador to Israel)

References

External links
 School website
 Alumni website

Category:Patrician Brothers schools
Category:Catholic schools in India
Category:Boarding schools in Uttarakhand
Category:Christian schools in Uttarakhand
Category:Schools in Dehradun
Category:Educational institutions established in 1934
Category:1934 establishments in India