“Born for greater things” – ‘Natus Ad Majora’ is the motto of LPS. Our Monogram and motto signify great ideals. The triangle in the monogram represents the omnipresence of the Triune God in our lives which impels us to do great things for the greater glory of God and the service of our brothers and sisters.
Beginning of the beginning!
Right Rev. Dr. Mummadi, Bishop of Guntur, who was most instrumental in getting back the Jesuits to Andhra after three centuries and establishing Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada wanted to have another institution in Guntur, the seat of his Diocese. His ardent desire was to have a School for boys run by the Jesuit Fathers to cater to theneeds of the town and the Diocese. A good and well established English Medium School had been a long felt need in this area. But it was not easy to get the Fathers to start another Institution as the demands on them were many all over the country and their personnel few. But with his inimitable patience and perseverance, constant pleading and continuous pursuance, he succeeded in getting the approval of Rev. Fr. Janssens Jean Baptist, XXVII, General of the Society of Jesus in Rome to start a School, and he entrusted the Project to the Fathers of Madurai Jesuit Province to which belong the colleges in the South like Loyola College in Madras, St. Joseph’s College in Trichy and St. Xavier’s in Palayamkottai, Tirunalveli and Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada.
His leadership at once busied himself in 1962 with looking for a site and after examining several and with the help of his secretary Rev. Fr. Arulaiah and Rev. Fr. T. Balaiah SJ of Andhra Loyola College, finally decided upon the present one. Only God knows what difficulties His Lordship and the two Fathers underwent in getting the first 60 acres of the land which belonged to 25 different people. Experience showed that after a few years, a Cinema theatre might could have crop up in them or hotels setup and houses built. They earnestly requested the owners to part with the land for such an important and worthy public cause for a fair and reasonable price. Their names are well remembered even today by the Institution as an example of generous sacrifice for a good cause.
The Blue-prints and the plans for the school building, hostels and other structures were prepared by our well-known architect of Andhra and Tirupathi Universities, Rev. Brother Giandavide, A.R.A (Milan) P.I.M.E (Rome) Italy. The site plan before you, the entrance facade and the artist’s view in the printed folder are impressive, as you can see
for yourselves. The buildings are oriented East-West to avoid the summer sun. The future expansion and development have been taken into consideration and all the facilities fore-seen so that we have only to execute the plan by stages as and when funds are available. The total cost of the whole scheme was estimated at 45 to 50 lakhs of rupees. The immediate objective was to put up the first Entrance Block for which the Foundation laid with the ground and the first floor comprising six rooms, which would serve as temporary hostel and class rooms so that the School might function with a few standards from July, 1964.
The Public in Guntur showed great enthusiasm for the new school. As this was a big scheme involving large sums of money, Fr. Y.Papaiah sent out a printed appeal for funds and few of their names are marked in the history of LPS for their generous contribution. The Indian Leaf Tobacco Development, Co. Ltd., gave Rs. 10,000/-. The Guntur District Co-operative Marketing Society gave another Rs. 10,000/-, Mr. A. Sarvarayudu Chowdary of Navabharat Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Donated Rs. 10,000/- and the Guntur District Land Mortgage bank offered Rs.750/-. Mr. Madan Mohan Rao of Hyderabad gave Rs.1,000/-. Fr. Papaiah acknowledged with gratitude theses donations thanking the Managers and their Staff, “MAY GOD BLESS THEM”. Many have promised to donate but they had taken their own time to fulfill their promises- perhaps due to circumstances.
Rev.Fr. Papaiah met the then Chief Minister, the Finance and Education Ministers in Hyderabad. They showed great interest in our scheme and appreciated the Jesuit’s efforts with the promise of full co-operation and help as far as Government was concerned. Fr. Papaiah presented his application through the Special Secretary for Education, who infused fresh hope of carrying out the scheme. The then Collector of Guntur Dt – Mr. V. Srinivasachary, and other officials had been very helpful indeed when he had to deal with them regarding the school. Fr. Papaiah found the officials in Delhi too very appreciative of our endeavor in establishing a school of this type. There were already pressing requests for application forms and admissions not only from the town and nearby places but from distant South, from Bombay, Delhi, Patna, Jemshedpur and Calcutta. If by God’s help and grace, we finished a block by June and started classes, the admission was going to be a veritable problem, indeed, judging from the pressing requests people were making to admit their children. Jesuits needed help from the public, from philanthropists and our Government to put up the necessary buildings both for the students and the staff as the campus is far away from the town and as we lack the necessary things like electricity, water and transport. We hope to get help from the
Government and all of you and this hope was not confounded.
Rev.Fr. Papaiah met the Education Minister earlier at Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada and he was much impressed with the religious and philosophic out-look on life. “Go-ahead Father, we shall do all we can”. In return Fr.Papaiah complemented that “we are fortunate in having you as Minister for Education, who understands the importance of a public school for future generation”. Fr. Papaiah acknowledged the keen interest of Mr. Brahmananda Reddy, Minister for Finance who showed great interest in the establishment of Loyola Public School in Guntur District.
The foundation stone of the Hostel was laid by Dr.V.L.Dutt on 15th April 1967. To raise fund Fr.Papaiah invited Smt. M.S.Subbulakshmi to give a musical concert in Sept’ 1968 and she generously donated the money to complete the construction. Hostel was ready by next year and then solemnly inaugurated by Sri.K.Brahmananda Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The boys were residing in the school building and were transferred to New Hostel Building. To add to the attraction of the school, a swimming pool was constructed. Adding a feather to our Cap, LPS initiated the students to participate in sports and games. A triangular sports meet was conducted with St.Patricks, Sec’bad and St.John’s, Gannavaram. LPS could also boast of Army, Navy and Air-Force wings. A shooting range wall also was built.
The need to reach out to the poor children of our workers found concrete expression in starting a Telugu Medium school for them. It was called Vijay Mary Centre at first and. Bro. Soosai Arul was in charge. It went through various phases and transformations and became Loyola Telugu school and now it is Loyola High School.