Loyola School, ranked among the country's top 100 schools, was founded in January 1947, by two Jesuits from Kolkata, Father Cecil Leeming and Father Robert Drugman. Loyola was given 3.5 acres of land which once housed the Chota Nagpur Regiment Club (CNR). Hindi classes were held in a small school bus while the CNR Club hall housed several classes at the same time.
The Tatas had requested the Jesuit Fathers from Maryland, U.S.A., to come to Jamshedpur to manage Loyola. Five American fathers come from the United States under the Rector Superior Father Caroll I. Fasy. The fathers are given the Chotanagpur Regiment Club (CNR Club) and the land around it to 'build' the school on. The boundary walls of the school are the same from the time when the CNR club existed.
The Fathers lived in 43, Circuit House Area. Each year, one class was added on each side. So, originally, Loyola had 4th and 5th only. The next year, 1948, it had 3rd and 6th. To provide for extra classes, new classrooms were built. But this too, was not sufficient. So a new building came up. It was raised on the 'once upon a time' tennis courts of the CNR club. It is the present Loyola building.
The school premises were the Chhota Nagpur Regiment Club (CNR) situated on the property now belonging to Loyola School. This was adjacent to two football fields which became attached to Loyola. The school ran during the day, but at nightfall the Club members took over in the bar, the billiards room and the card room. The building was never meant for a school, Classrooms had to be put in nooks and corners and were often separated by nothing but curtains. There were 44 boys altogether in Stds 4 and 5. One year after the Calcutta Jesuits had started the school, a group of Americans came to help out in January 1948. They were Fr. Fasy, the Superior, Fr. Dineen, a Maths teacher, Fr. Enright, a Labour Relations man, and two Scholastics, James Keogh and Anderson Bakewell. They had made a month and a half journey by merchant ship through the Suez Canal from New to Bombay. In that year the works of the Catholic Church in Jamshedpur began to be taken over by Jesuit Missionaries of the Maryland Province, U.S.A. It seems that the intermediary whose influence brought the Jesuits from was a Steel Company. His name was Neil Haley of Gary, Indiana. Backing him was Sir Jehangir Ghandy to have a Jesuit School here since many of them were products of Jesuit Colleges. Over the years the school has achieved several milestones. Father Pius, who was the principal of Loyola from 1992 to 2002 during the Golden Jubilee era of Loyola was the person behind making Loyola School Co-Education. He rejoined Loyola in 2017, and is playing a key role in the platinum jubilee this year.
His passion for teaching has not ceased even after holding the post of principal. He still teaches his students under his tutelage, and brings accolades to the school by achieving excellent results every year.
Sharing his experiences as the principal of the leading school of the state, Father Pius said that he had served as principal of Loyola from 1992-2002 but now felt humbled to be back at the school. "Honestly speaking, education is more than just scoring marks. I believe in making every child capable of being a responsible citizen and contributing to the nation’s progress," said Father Pius with a smile.
Some prominent Loyoleans: Percy Siganporia (1967) MD, Tata Tea Limited, Zubin Irani (1991), MD, Carrier India, Shomone Chatterjee (1982), MD, Lewis India, Padma Shri Astad Deboo (1965), Modern dancer and choreographer, Mahesh Aney (1971), National film award winning cinematographer He won the Best Cinematographer award in 2005 for his work in the movie, Swades. Academia Dr. Yashwant Gupta (1978), Chief Scientist at National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, at the Pune University Campus, Dr. Amit Chatterjee (1960), Metallurgist of international repute, Fellow of Imperial College, London, Dr. Abhinav Kumar (1998), Stood first in IIT JEE 1998
medalist, International Mathematics Olympiad 1998 CS from MIT and PhD from Harvard.
