During the 1840s, the present location of St. Louis School was the site of a small battery, called the West Point Battery or Elliot's Battery.[1]
St. Louis School was founded in 1864 by the Fathers of the Catholic Mission; St Aloysius was chosen as the Patron of the school.[2] The school was initially known as the West Point Reformatory.[3] The Brothers of the Christian Schools (commonly known as the La Salle Brothers) succeeded the Fathers in the management of the school in 1875 and managed the school until 1893.
In 1921, Bishop Pozzoni, the Ordinary of Hong Kong, requested the Maryknoll Fathers to take over. Some of the boys were orphans while the rest were remanded by the Hong Kong government, the government giving a small monthly grant for each student. The Maryknoll Fathers renamed the school 'St Louis Industrial School' and equipped it with a printing press. The students became expert in this line and seven years later when the Paris Foreign Missions Society started their celebrated polyglot press at Nazareth in Pokfulam, they took into their employ many of these boys.
When Brother Albert Staubli arrived, he added manual training to its curriculum in the way of carpentry. The American Maryknoller, Fr James Edward Walsh, who was one of the first four American missioners to arrive in China and the last Western missioner to be released by the Communist China in 1970, spent some time at the school too.[3]
Early in 1926, Maryknoll's Father Superior and one of the co-founders, Fr James Anthony Walsh, made a visitation of his fledgling mission fields in South China and spent some weeks in Hong Kong before visiting Kongmoon (now called Jiangmen) and Kaying (in Meixian). In the course of his stay, the position of the industrial school was reviewed and it was eventually handed back to the Diocese.[3]
Salesian Fathers
In 1927, the school was given to the Salesian Fathers and has been run by them since then.[4] The year 1927 is now regarded as the founding year of today's school.[2] The school was transformed from a vocational school to an English grammar school in 1948.[4]
The primary section of St Louis School was particularly famous in the 1970s and the 1980s, for it won almost all the inter-school quiz competitions organized by Radio Television Hong Kong.
Facilities
The school consists of four wings: East, North, Central and West. The oldest one is the East Wing (Block A), which was built in 1936. The North Wing was damaged by a typhoon in 1942, and a new building was subsequently erected.[4] The Central and West Wings were constructed and opened in 1941 and 1967 respectively.[2]
The school's sports facilities include a football playground (with a stand for about 1,100 people), a basketball court and a covered playground. The football playground is the largest among those of all the schools in West Point.
School badge, motto, song
The badge of St Louis School embodies a profound philosophy through the simplicity of its design.[5]
The white background symbolizes the innocence of the students.
The central red cross reminds the students to adopt Christ as their mentor, and to possess love and passion, a sense of self-sacrifice and full service.
The letters 'S' and 'L' are the initials of Saint Louis.
The two Greek letters Α (Alpha) and Ω (Omega) in the book on the cross exhort the students to pursue virginity.
The Latin phrase ' SCIENTIA ET PIETAS' at the bottom of the badge is the school motto, it means 'knowledge and piety'. It instructs the students to place equal emphases on both knowledge and piety.
The school song 'All Hail, All Hail' was written by Rev Fr Janssen in 1957.
Principals and Rectors
1927-1934: Fr Vincenzo Bernardini; 1st Rector and Principal
1934-1937: Fr Teodor Wieczorek; 2nd Rector and Principal
1937-1946: Fr John Guarona; 3rd Rector and Principal
1946-1949: Fr Pietro Pomat; 4th Rector and Principal
1949-1955: Fr John Clifford; 5th Rector and Principal
1955-1958: Fr Bernard Tohill; 6th Rector and Principal
1958-1964: Fr Lam Yum-ching; 7th Rector and Principal
1964-1970: Fr John Foster; 8th Rector and Principal
1970-1976: Fr Alexander Smith; 9th Rector and Principal
1976-1982: Fr Giuliano Carpella; 10th Rector and Principal [1]
The East Wing of St. Louis School, built in 1936, is listed as a Grade II historic building, "Buildings of special merit; efforts should be made to selectively preserve".[6] St. Louis School is part of the Central and Western Heritage Trail, Western District and the Peak Route.[2]
This list is incomplete. Central has its own template due to the number of sites in that area. Sites specifically associated with University of Hong Kong are listed at the relevant template.
