Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty
Location: Lovedale, Ooty, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India
Map : Lovedale Ooty View Larger Map
Students: 700 approximately
Established : September 6, 1858
Website: www.thelawrenceschool.org
Latitude, Longitude: 11.378271;76.700835
The Lawrence School, Lovedale (near Ootacamund ), Tamil Nadu, is named after Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence. Lawrence had mooted the idea about the establishment of a chain of schools with a view to provide education to the children of the deceased and serving soldiers and officers of the British army. Lawrence was himself killed in the Indian rebellion of 1857, also called India’s First War of Independence. His dream took shape and four such schools, initially known as Lawrence Asylum, were established in different parts of India: the first two during his lifetime in the year 1847 at Sanawar, the second at Mount Abu in 1856; the third at Ootacamund in 1858 and the fourth in Ghora Gali, Murree in 1860, (Murree was then a part of undivided India, but became part of Pakistan after partition).
Motto:
The motto of the school is “NEVER GIVE IN” as visible in the school emblem. The motto embodies the spirit of the Lawrencian – to pursue a task to its fullest , giving one’s best at all times. The motto is believed to instil in the pupils the spirit of excellence and the tenacity to overcome obstacles and blocks to achieve one’s goals.
The Campus:
The Lawrence School, Lovedale, has a sprawling campus of 750 acres (3 km²). Lovedale, six kilometres (3.7 miles) from Ootacamund, is located at a height of 7200 feet over sea level, slightly lower than the Dodabetta peak (altitude: 8000 feet), the highest peak of the mountain ranges of the Niligiris. The school campus is divided into prep school, junior school and senior school based on the classes.
Prep school – Class 4 to Class 6
Junior School – Class 7 & Class 8
Senior School – Class 9 to Class 12
The classrooms and dormitories of the different schools are housed in the respective buildings. All the girls are housed in the girl’s school and are required to go to the respective schools for classes. Though the campus is huge, the built up area is only 45 acres (0.2 KM²). The school is run by a Board Of Governors appointed by the Governmnet Ministry Of Human Resources department. The Current board is chaired by a former senior civil servant and has eminent members from different sectors. The school in recent times has made rapid strides in academics with results in the board exams improving from year to year. Recently the school celebrated 150th year of its founding with hundreds of alumni from all over the world participating including an alumni who left school in the late 1930 with Dr. APJ Kalam taking the salute at the grand parade.
