Murree Christian School

Murree Christian School Logo
This is the most recent MCS logo. The logo includes the Murree hills, the trinity symbol, Christ's cross, and a torch that symbolizes the Godly perspective of education that MCS strives for. The exact origins of the logo are unknown, but the last changes to the logo were done by a student attending MCS.

Murree Christian School is a small private boarding school founded in 1956, currently open for children in grades 4–12. It is a founding member of the South Asian Inter-Scholastic Association (SAISA) in 1972, and remains a highly regarded educational institution in Pakistan. It is located near the resort town of Murree, Pakistan, at over 7000 ft. elevation in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains in Pakistan.[1] The main high school building, made of stone, is a former garrison Church, serving as a Church of Scotland congregation for British soldiers in training in the hill station of Murree, until the church was given to the Anglican Diocese of Lahore during Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, but was not used until the newly formed Murree Christian School started renovating and refurbishing the deconsecrated church. Several other buildings are used as elementary classrooms, staff housing as well as boarding hostels (dorms). Until 2011, high school boys were housed at a building which was formerly Sandes Soldiers Home, for convalescent soldiers of the British Indian Army.

Murree Christian School is one of the better known international boarding schools on the Indian Subcontinent, established to serve the needs of the expatriate communities in and around Pakistan after the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 made it increasingly difficult for children to continue to attend other similar schools in India such as Woodstock School in Mussoorie, and Hebron School in Ootacamund, and Kodaikanal International School in Kodaikanal. Attendance in the early 1960s quickly rose to over 100 pupils and the first graduating class was celebrated in 1964. Through the 1970s and up until 2001, the school boasted a multinational community of over 150 students and over 50 expatriate staff from over 25 countries. The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States of America resulted in unrest and violence across the region. Subsequently many expatriate workers were forced to evacuate and the school had to close down temporarily. Classes resumed in February 2002, and by the start of the new academic year in August 2002 enrolment was back at over 150 students.

In the second week of the new academic year, on 5 August 2002, Murree Christian School was attacked by six gunmen from the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) in what is now known as the Murree Christian School attack. Though the attack was unprecedented, foreigners in Pakistan had been targeted earlier in the year, including the February murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi, the head of the South Asia bureau of the Wall Street Journal. In March, the Protestant International Church in the Diplomatic Enclave of Islamabad was attacked, leaving five dead. In June, the bombing of the US Consulate in Karachi resulted in 12 dead. Following the attack on Taxila Christian Hospital on 7 August, by what were believed to be gunmen of the same terrorist group that attacked Murree Christian School, the school board decided to temporarily close the school. Within three weeks, a decision was made to temporarily move to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to run independently under the auspices of Chiang Mai International School, a Church of Christ in Thailand school, serving the expatriate and local population in northern Thailand. The following year, MCS students boarded with MCS house parents, but attended Chiang Mai International School. In August 2004, the security situation was assessed to have improved, and under tight security, Murree Christian School reopened at the original site of Gharial, in Murree.

History

MCS High-School Building.

Murree Christian School was founded in 1956 to educate the children of missionaries in Pakistan[1] and is located near the tiny crossroads town of Jhika Gali which is in the Murree hills of Rawalpindi District, Punjab province. The school had been functioning without notoriety until 5 August 2002 when gunmen attacked the school killing six people, none of whom were students or expatriates[2] the school has since returned to normalcy with increased security. Since the mid-1960s, not all students have been from missionary families; some are children of expatriate workers of diplomatic missions, non-governmental organisations, or multinational corporations in Pakistan. Some students are from the small Pakistani Christian community, but because the national curriculum of Pakistan is not taught, Pakistani students have very limited options for tertiary education domestically. Courses are taught in English, with supplementary classes for European and Asian native-language speakers as well as Urdu as a foreign language for students.

Sports

MCS Gym

MCS is the smallest member of SAISA (the South Asia International Schools Association) with enrolment under 100 students after reopening in 2004. SAISA facilitates athletic and cultural interaction with other international schools in the region. MCS students join with students from other schools in South Asia for sports tournaments and occasional fine arts productions. Meeting other students from different backgrounds, forming friendships, sharing victory and defeat are some of the beneficial experiences that MCS students have gained from participating in SAISA events. MCS students have also contributed much to the Association through their sense of sportsmanship, manners, cheerful cooperation and team spirit, frequently winning the sportsmanship award.. In preparation for these tournaments, students spend many afternoons after school training and practicing.[1]

Boarding life

General information

All the elementary boarders are housed in one group with the boarding parents. Junior and senior high-school boarders have separate departments divided by gender. Grades 7–9 are in the junior-high boys and girls, and students in grades 10 to 12 are in the senior high boys and girls boarding departments. Normally a husband/wife work together for each boarding department, but we also sometimes single boarding parents are accepted as well.[1]

Donations

Donations from alumni and other benefactors to MCS have been used on multiple projects, such as:

Gharial Site:

The school are continually evaluating sites in order to update them and make them more efficient to operate. Development projects that are next on the list to, work on as funds are available, are:

At the Gharial Site:

Admissions

General Information

Murree Christian School was established primarily to meet the educational needs of the missionary community working in and around Pakistan. Applications are accepted from families working in other areas who understand the historical evangelical Christian background of the school and accept its centrality in school life. Subsequently the school will contact applicants for an interview. Accepting applicants from an English as a Second Language (ESL) background will be conditional on English proficiency and prior English-language schooling experience.[1]

The school does not admit students from Muslim backgrounds due to Pakistani regulations.[3]

Education

Elementary curriculum

In the Elementary Department the aim is to give the children a strong foundation across the curriculum. It has a staff of one full-time teacher and benefit from the input of many other staff on a part-time basis.

The curriculum covers all general subjects: math, English, science, Bible, social studies, computing, art, music, technology, library skills, personal and social education and physical education. Courses are adapted and extended as necessary in order to meet the varying needs of children from many different parts of the world. When we have available staff we can also offer English as a Second language as well as German, French, Urdu and Korean.

Homework is given each day to be completed in study hall.

Elementary students take the IOWA tests of educational development each spring.

The National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) is available to students with learning disabilities.

When possible we are able to offer general music lessons as well as private lessons in piano and other instruments.

High-school curriculum

An experiment performed during an MCS Physics class.

The curriculum follows an American system and students are able to take external Advanced Placement exams in certain subjects under the auspices of the Collegeboard to give successful students the ability to claim college-level credits at American liberal arts colleges. Recently, the following classes have been offered.

The following foreign languages may also be offered, depending available teachers – French, Spanish, German, Urdu, Korean, Swedish and Finnish. Other subjects also offered include Christian Studies, Physical Education, Art, Craft Design and Technology, Auto Mechanics and Music. Other subjects may be selected by the student in consultation with the High School Principal and taken through online classes. Testing Programs

These and other tests are given individually or to groups at other times needed.

The National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) is available to students with learning disabilities.

When possible, the school offers general music lessons as well as private lessons in piano and other instruments.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Murree Christian School
  2. ↑ Six killed in attack on Murree school – Dawn Pakistan,
  3. ↑ "Admissions." Murree Christian School. Retrieved on 1 February 2016.

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