Convent of Jesus & Mary School, Ambala

The Congregation of Jesus & Mary was founded in the year 1818 by Mille. Ciaudine Thevenet in Lyons, France. In the aftermath of the French Revolution many young children became orphans. The Congregation of Jesus & Mary wanted to reach out to the young and destitute orphans of the French Revolution. Thus was born the first convent and today the Congregation has spread to 26 countries, all over the world. They came to India in 1842. It now runs several English and Vernacular Medium Schools, Degree Colleges, Teacher Training Centres and Boarding (Houses) Establishments in both urban and rural areas of India.

Mother St. Luice, then Provincial Superior of the Congregation of Jesus & Mary purchased some property in the year 1908 at Ambala with the purpose of serving as a rest house and winter residence for old, ailing sisters of Shimla. Fr. Julius, Vicar General of Most Reverend Archbishop Gentili requested the <sisters to open a convent in Ambala, and the Sisters opened the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, on 2″d December, 1909, in a small cottage on the premises of 121, Staff Road, Ambala Cantt with just one pupil, the son of an Army man. Today the school has strength of 1400 pupils drawn from different classes, castes and religious and social backgrounds.

The school was originally a girl’s school;  however, boys were admitted and could study up to Class V, while the girls studied up to Matriculation. The situation changed during the 1971 lndo-Pak conflict, when soldiers moved to the war front leaving behind  their wards. A decision was taken by the school authorities, to allow boys also to continue up to Matriculation, on compassionate grounds. Since April 2007, however, the Convent has once again become a girl’s school.

Over the past 100 years the Convent of Jesus & Mary, Ambala   has  kept  up  with  the  changing  times  and challenging demands of education. The commendable result which it achieved in the very first Board exam in the year 1979 earned it an encomium from the Central Board of Secondary Education which graded it as the “Best in All-India”. Besides, academics, curricular activities and sports are also encouraged. The students are also imbued with social, ethical and spiritual values, which help them to integrate into the mainstream of life as diligent and morally upright citizens.

The school is blessed with a family spirit supported by a climate of love, forgiveness, compassion and trust- so exemplified in the life of its Mother Foundress Claudine Thevenet. With an up to date curriculum, latest teaching facilities, a committed faculty and a self evaluation programme, the Convent of Jesus & Mary has made tremendous strides in the field of education.

The school celebrates its Centenary Year with joy and pride and rededicate itself to the service of the mankind.