St. Catherine Of Siena school provides a free education program for around 235 students from disadvantaged backgrounds regardless of their caste , ethnicity background or religion or whether they are over aged for school entry. Some of our students have no parents or have a parent/guardian who is unable to support them. Many have experienced extreme trauma in their lives.
The day scholars are mostly from streets and slums in Bandra area. Some have been rejected by other schools. St. Catherine is a private, unaided primary school. It was founded in the year 1957 by Father Anthony Elenjimittam.
It is an English medium school. Children start to learn English in kindergarten. The school has government recognition and is subject to government regulations and inspections, but does not receive any government funding. We are grateful to all the donors who have funded the school till today since Father Anthony Elenjimittam started an informal school for street children under a tree 62 years. Donors also cover the cost of teachers salaries and all the school’s operational cost. The school also complies to the Right to Education Act (RTE) where 25% of seats are reserved for students anytime of the academic year. This is mandatory by the educational department.
St. Catherine also has programs and activities designed to build student confidence , social skills , cultural understanding and physical and emotional well being. We aim to make school a place of fun and learning where children feel safe and loved.
Students enrol and commence the new school year early in June. Students who are rejected by other schools come to our school for admission.
School Hours: School starts at 8:00am and ends at 3:30pm.
St. Catherine does not charge any schoolfees and provides the following items free of charge to all- School uniform, school bag, shoes and socks, water bottles, school stationary, textbooks and a free mid day meal is provided to the whole school. Students from Junior KG to Standard IV are taken on a free educational trip and children’s picnic annually. We encourage you to be part of any St. Catherine activity. You can sponsor any of the activities or donations in kind is accepted.
Celebrate Bandra has donated a 35 seater bus to the school. This enables us to pick and drop students who find it difficult to commute to school.
We comply with the provision of the Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of children) Act 2015.
At St. Catherine we have a strong focus on the development of literacy and numeracy skills as these are the basic building block of learning. St. Catherine has a library made up od donated books. The school also runs a reading club. Children are given a library bag and are encouraged to borrow one book each week. Children in Std 3 and Std 4 have a Home Reader Scheme that encourages them to take home graded readers that they can try independently.
We help students discover and develop their talents in sports like football , yoga , judo, art , music and dance. Students participate in the MSSA tournaments every year. You can volunteer during the training period, share your talents or be a part of this tournament.
Students are taught to care about their personal hygiene and to be clean and tidy at school. They are taught how to use toilets as some do not have these facilities at home.
All students have access to the medical center. Parents of students can also avail to the medicines provided in the center. A doctor from the India Bulls group visits the school every Tuesday. David Harijan, a student from the Junior KG is a victim of cancer who being given support from the school to continue with his chemotherapy, food and purchase of medicines. Today he has completed the therapy and has joined back. The school is also supporting Huriya Shaikh who suffers from kidney problems. Her bills are being paid by the school. A free complete annual check up of the entire school is conducted in the month of July which is sponsored by True Love Project.
Festivals of all religions are celebrated in the school. You are welcomed to be a part of these celebrations.
The head teacher and senior social counsellor lead a parent information meeting at the last Tuesday of the month.
Teachers have a WhatsApp group with parents. They send voice messages as many parents are illiterate about classroom activities.