November 10, 2018 10:28 pm
Written by Byron Henry Jr
HISTORY OF ST. ROSE’S HIGH SCHOOL
Six nuns and two postulants from the Ursuline convent in Athlone, Ireland traveled to the then colony of British Guiana in 1847. The sisters, Mothers Mary Bernard Perry, Mary de SalesMolony, Mary Magdalen Doyle, Mary Regis O’Brien, superior, Mary Stanislaus Hearne and MaryAlphonsus O’Beirnem opened a secondary school for girls on August 31 of that year, the celebration of St. Rose of Lima.
Three-story structures were built to accommodate the growing student population in 1869 and 1925. The latter building included an auditorium that was the largest of its kind in Georgetown for many years. Construction began on a gymnasium in 1935. The boarding program closed in 1953, followed shortly by completion of a new wing of the school, the Marian Wing, in 1954. New laboratories and classrooms were added in the late 1960s.
St. Rose’s accepted its first male students in 1975, a year before all Guyana schools became state- controlled. Despite the government oversight, St. Rose’s maintained its logo (badge) of the Ursuline shield. In 2005, a board of governors was established to manage St. Rose’s High School. The school presently has approximately seven hundred and fifty students.
St. Rose’s students are sorted into five houses. Their names, colors and mottos are:
- Brescia – red, He conquers who overcomes himself,
- Cologne – yellow, Nothing ventured nothing gained,
- Lima – pink, Excelsior,
- Loretto – blue, Unity is strength,
- Merici – green, Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The Serviam Badge is a symbol of all Ursuline schools worldwide.
Although St. Rose’s is now a government school and is therefore no longer an Ursuline school, the Ursuline badge was never changed, and the following is an explanation of its meaning. Pope Pius XI has said that the badge of the Ursuline schools, with the motto “Serviam” is a symbol of Christian education. It bears a field of stars (the constellation Ursa Minor, in which the Pole Star lies), signifying the Eternal Heavens to which we must aspire. The Little Bear “Ursus” recalls St. Ursula, patroness of Christian Education and special patroness of Ursuline Schools. Just as the light from the Little Bear leads up to the brighter light of the Pole Star, so Ursuline Education helps students to the knowledge of Truth, here symbolised by the Pole Star, and it is Truth which will guide students on their path through life.
The Ursuline badge bears a cross – whence comes all grace into the world, to remind students that all blessings of God flow from the Redemption.
The color “Green” represents the virtue of hope, the color Silver reminds students to be sincere in all that they do.
The word “Serviam” (I will serve) expresses loyalty to Christ, and a desire to serve Him.