St. Michael's High School, Patna[3][4] (often abbreviated as SMHS Patna or SMHS[5]) is a private, co-ed high school in the Digha neighborhood of Patna, Bihar, India. It is a Catholic missionary educational institution established in 1858, currently managed by Patna Jesuit Society.[6][7][8] It is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi, and is one of the oldest schools in the state of Bihar.[9] It was founded by the first Bishop of Patna, Dr. Anastasius Hartmann.[10] The current principal is Edison J. Armstrong who took charge in January 2016 from Peter Arockiasamy.[11] It is named after Saint Michael the Archangel.
In 1854 Monsignor Zuber, Vicar Apostolic of Patna, purchased the ground where the school stands with the aim of forming a community of native Christians. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 destroyed his plans and the place was left without any residents. In 1858, when order was restored, Anastasius Hartmann opened the building as an orphanage for children who became orphans during the rebellion. More buildings were added and the institution gradually grew to become a large boarding house and orphanage combined.[12] In 1894, the management of the school was handed over to the Irish Christian Brothers[13] (commonly known as Christian Brothers) under whose management it became one of the leading schools in Bengal. St Michael's became a high school and sent its first batch of four students to high school examination in 1896. In 1907, Bengal District Gazetteers for Patna states the number of boys in the school at 283, including a large number of orphans. The staff consisted of six brothers and six secular teachers. During this period, the school received an annual government grant, regulated by the number of students enrolled. St. Michael's set up a volunteer cadet corps in 1893. Since 1968, the school has been managed by the Patna Jesuit Society,[14] the Bihar provincial unit of the worldwide Catholic missionary organization called the Society of Jesus. In 1988 the school's affiliation board changed from ICSE Board to CBSE Board.
The school is in Bankipur - Danapur Road (commonly known as Danapur Road), on the banks of the Ganges in the Digha neighborhood of Patna. The central building complex houses classrooms, administrative offices and an auditorium. The administrative offices including the principal's office is at the main entrance on north gate of the building in front of the assembly ground. The main playground is west of assembly ground and is used for annual parades as well as for games of cricket and football. The east playground is smaller and used by students to play games. The southeast section of the campus has table tennis boards and a handball wall. Indoor games such as carom, chess and other board games are housed inside the main building in the play room. The auditorium is well equipped with a PA system and has a stage for plays, performances, annual gatherings, and debate competitions. The northwest section of the campus has a swimming pool with a diving board. Next to the pool is the school cafeteria. The school has a B.Ed. college (St. Xavier's College of Education) on its campus to train teachers. St. Michael's has two computer labs: one each for junior and senior students. The library is well equipped with reference books and caters to students of Class II and onward. The school has one language lab for the students from Class I to VIII and subject-specific labs for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. A dispensary under the supervision of a trained nurse is in the school building to attend to any health care problems of students during school hours.[15] St. Michael's offers private, citywide transportation services for students and faculty through a bus service company.