St. Joseph's School - North Point, Darjeeling

St. Joseph's School, popularly known as North Point, is a private day and boarding school owned and managed by the Jesuits in Darjeeling, India. The school was originally called St. Joseph's College until the college section broke away from the school section. The name North Point came about because the school is in that area of Darjeeling. The Kangchenjunga mountain range forms the backdrop to the school, with Grecian columns and cuneiform windows enclosing an eye-catching quadrangle in the centre.The school was opened on 13 February 1888, at Sunny Bank in Darjeeling town. There were eighteen boarders and seven day scholars on the rolls. Numbers soon increased and the need was felt for more ample grounds. Property was procured by Fr. Henri Depelchin, S.J., the founder, on the town limits at North Point. The foundation stone was laid on 27 April 1890, and on 18 February 1892 the new building received the first North Pointers. In 1899, the student body consisted of 193 boys.Towards the end of 1908, Sir Andrew Fraser gave Rs.21,000 to the school. The money was used to close in the quadrangle completely. With this the number of students increased to 290. In 1947, the year of Indian Independence, the number reached 422, including 93 college students.There was a steady increase in the numbers of day scholars, and the school became more international. There had always been a scattering of English, French, and German boys. Students from China, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, Burma, and Indonesia started arriving. In 1954, 28 nationalities could be found in the college, including the staff. At one time there were Americans, Czechs, and Armenians with a mixture of religions, including Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus.