St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School

For other schools with a similar name, see St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School
Location
Cantonment Street
Osu, Accra, Greater Accra Region
Ghana
Coordinates 6°39′47″N 1°38′42″W / 6.663°N 1.645°W / 6.663; -1.645Coordinates: 6°39′47″N 1°38′42″W / 6.663°N 1.645°W / 6.663; -1.645
Information
Type Public senior high day school
Motto Veritas Liberat
(The truth shall set you free)
Established 28 February 1952 (1952-02-28)
Head of school Mr Cyril Dadey
Grades Senior secondary years 1–3
Gender Boys
Enrollment Form 1 – 3
Number of students 1,500
Campus size 1000 by 100 square meters
Houses 4 (Elsbernd, Hotze, McKillip and Lessage)
Color(s) White, blue, long sleves with tie and blue-black trousers
Slogan Beebɛ
Song "We students of Aquinas, in striving for perfection"
Athletics Basketball, soccer, short- and long-distance sprinting
Rival Accra Academy High School and presec-Legon
Affiliation Roman Catholic Church
Website www.saintaquinasschool.com

St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School is a Ghananian public day senior high school for boys in the Osu, district of Accra in the Greater Accra Region.

History

It was established in the Greater Accra Region by the Catholic missionaries on 28 February 1952 in the present premises of St. Peter's Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic missionaries stood solidly in the forefront in establishing schools across Ghana to educate boys in the catholic traditions. It was in this direction that the Roman Catholic Bishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Adolph Alexander Noser, started the school in a two-storey house at Osu-Anohor, close to the littoral, with a limited number of fifty students.

The original staff comprised three Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Reverend Fathers, Father Alphonse Elsbernd (the first headmaster), Father Wilson and Father Fisher, together with two amateur teachers. In March 1954, Father Clement Hotze became the second headmaster with 130 students and a staff of eight.

The school was recognized as government-assisted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to present candidates for the Ordinary Level Examination in 1956, when Rev. Father John McKillip became headmaster.

First batch of enrollment and school-growth timelines

The first batch of students performed well on the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in 1957. The school's headmaster in 1958, Rev. Father Maurice Lessage, a botanist whose love for reptiles led him to keep snakes on the school compound and he ultimately wrote a book entitled Snakes of West Africa, proved very indefatigable in his endeavor to develop the school. Assisted by a colleague catholic priests, Rev. Fathers Joseph Schorupka (popularly called Father Joe), Brother Burnes and Brother Kostkhar, the school grew in popularity as student population soared, creating inconveniences and enormous burden on classroom space. As a new and more suitable site was being contemplated, in September 1961, the chiefs of the Ga people finally released a parcel of about 10 hectares of land at Cantonment to serve that purpose. The founding fathers quickly procured the necessary resources coupled with the approval of the Ministry of Education to put up classrooms and science laboratories for the school.

Conversant with the difficulties of the school's students securing places in the sixth form grade in other schools, the then-headmaster, Rev. Father John McKillip, applied for instituting sixth form at the school to enable students to partake in the Advanced Level Certificate Examination ('A' Level) to fast track their entry to tertiary-institutional levels. This materialized as the Ghananian Ministry of Education gave the approval and establishment in 1971. The teaching staff capacity was strengthened by the American Peace Corps and the British Overseas Volunteer Corps who were specialists in science, mathematics and English literature. As a result, the school attracted children of European and Asian expatriates residing in Accra.

Sixtieth anniversary

The 60-year commemoration of catholic moral and academic education was outdoored under the theme "Sixty Years of Holistic Catholic Education towards National Development: The Day School Experience", on 7 March 2011 at the Aquinas School Chapel, with an array of activities.

The guest speaker, Professor George Hagan, who was very philosophical in his address, challenged all Old Toms to put into practice the values of what was inculcated in them, as they journeyed on the academic ladder of education. He further charged them to lead morally upright lives, eschew corruption and to avoid indulgence in any forms of vices which will not only to tarnish but detract their good image in society.

A special Remembrance Day Thanksgiving Service was held for the repose of the souls of deceased Old Toms (as past students are affectionately called) over the decades. An anniversary festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was held on 21 December 2011.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Day (Founder's Day) was held on 28 January 2012 and afforded the opportunity for proactive interaction with sections of the student invitees, drawn from sister Catholic schools in Accra. The school choir, under the choirmaster-ship of Jojo Anderson, entertained the congregations.

Professor John Owusu Gyapong, a pro vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, diligently accepted and chaired his alma mater's 60th anniversary grand commemorative durbar amalgamated with a speech and prize-giving day which climaxed the celebrations on 25 February 2012 at the school premises.

Location

In September 1963, the school relocated to its present permanent site at Cantonment Street, Osu.

The school is situated opposite the European Union offices and the Civil Service Training School, laying between the Cantonment Police Station to its south and The Embassy of Togo to its north, with close proximity to the prime area of the commercial and administrative hub of Osu's Oxford Street.

Academics

The school runs nine streams and five academic programmes.

Affiliation

Aquinas has ties with its sister school, Accra Girl's Senior High School, with a strong bond of students association, which is aimed at sharing entertainments, social activities, and educational exchange, called STAAGA (St. Thomas Aquinas Accra Girls Association).

Student body and staff

Enrollment level stands at over 1,200 students. James Dapaah Asamoah is the headmaster, being the school's twelfth headmaster. The school has a teaching staff of about 65 and non-teaching staff of approximately 35.

Motto and slogan

The school's motto is Veritas Libera, meaning "The truth sets you free", is a Latin variant of Veritas vos liberabit from the Gospel of John chapter 8 verse 32.

Its slogan is "beebɛ", a word in Ghana's native Ga language, meaning "Waste No Time".

Uniform

The students wear a white shirt with the school crest christened Veritas Liberat, meaning, "only the truth can set you free", boldly engraved, tucked into a brown Khaki pair of shorts to match. In contemporary times, however, a light-blue shirt and the school cloth which is textile, embossed with the school crest, have supplemented the traditional white shirt which was the choice of the founding fathers.

Awards

In 2013, the school was adjudged the Overall Best High School in Ghana, as well as winning its Maiden Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz Competition.

The school won the National Science and Maths Quiz in 2013, beating Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School and Mfantsiman Girls Secondary School, which placed second and third, respectively, in the grand finale.

In November 1955, the first candidate (one person) was presented for the General School Certificate Examination and had a 100 percent pass.

Furthermore, in 1973, a sixth form education was formally introduced in the school.

In 2013, the came first in the maiden edition of the Science and Technology Fair organized by the Young Educators Foundation (YEF), an education oriented non-governmental organization.

The school has consistently and successfully been adjudged the best day school in Ghana, as well as, being part of few best acclaimed boy's senior high schools in the country.

In the 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the school maintained its 100 percent pass rate and the general academic performance of the school yielded enormous positive response. Aquinas is consistently listed among the top twenty schools in the whole of Ghana, currently in more than three different source of ranking criteria and websites.

Rivals

The school is an arch-rival to Accra Academy and The Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School in the Greater Accra Region and is the fiercest rival among other senior high schools in Ghana.

Chronological list of headmasters

Name Period
Rev. Fr. A. Elsbernd January 1952 – March 1954
Rev. Fr. C. Hotze April 1954 – April 1956
Rev. Fr. J. Mckillip May 1956 – August 1957
Rev. Fr. E. Datig September 1957 – September 1958
Rev. Fr. M. Lessage July 1958 – September 1969
Rev. Fr. J. Mckillip September 1969 – June 1978
Mr. D. D. Dumfeh September 1978 – August 1980
Mr. C. K. Koomsom October 1980 – September 1985
Rev. Fr. S. K. Batsa September 1985 – January 2003
Mr. F. K. Bebli September 2003 – March 2010
Mr. Francis Ahiafor March 2010 – 2013
Mr. Joseph Dapaah Asamoah since 2013

Postdated accolades and achievements

By 2012, when the school celebrated its golden jubilee, academic programmes had expanded to include business studies, agricultural sciences and visual arts.

Staff bungalows began to spring up with a headmaster's accommodation, a one-storey block academic staff residence, a hostel facility and a canteen for students, all on campus.

Notable alumni

Alumni are known as "Old Toms".

A sizeable number of Old Toms made their ways into the seminaries for training and induction into the priesthood. The school has produced two Catholic bishops and an Anglican bishop-elect for the clergy of the Republic of Ghana. They are the Most Rev. Vincent Sowah Boi-Nai (1966 year group) and Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji (1976 year group), the Bishops of the Dioceses of Yendi in the Northern Region and the Prefecture of Donkorkrom in the Afram Plains district respectively. The Anglican Bishop-Elect of the Accra Dioceses of the Anglican Church is the Rt. Rev. D. S. M. Torto (1978 year group).

In addition, there are about 16 Old Toms who are parish priests in various catholic dioceses across the nation. We recollect Rev. Fathers Quaye Foli, Andrew Addo Obeng and Benjamin Opoku Ohene (1989 year group), who is serving as the current Assistant Headmaster of Academic at the school. The legacy of writing bequeathed by the Patron Saint Thomas Aquinas has dawned on them, as most of them have authored religious books on the Catholic doctrine.

Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson (1972 year group) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Koforidua, who as an integrate part of his birthday celebration at the St. Thomas Aquinas School Campus, launched Matthew 25 House, an HIV/AIDS project in Ghana, as well as a fund-raising for the construction of a hospice facility to be dedicated to the care of people with terminal illness.

List of notable alumni

Academia, politics and religion
Entertainment, fashion and sports
Other

See also

References

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.