St. John's College, Nugegoda

St. John's College, started in 1915 and is the only boys' school in Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. It contains two primary sections and upper school. Nugegoda had no English School until 1915. St. John's School commenced with 14 pupils on 5 May 1915. In 1934, the mixed school of St. John's was separated into separate Boys and Girls schools, with the boys school known as the College of St. John, Nugeogda.[1]

St. John's College, Nugegoda (National School)
සාන්ත ජෝන් විද්‍යාලය
Location
Nugegoda

Sri Lanka
Information
TypeGovernment
MottoLatin: Nil Desperandum
("No Desperation")
Established1915 (1915)
PrincipalS.Dilan Nishantha Gunarathne
GradesClass 1–13
GenderBoys
Age6 to 19
Enrollment4000+
Colour(s)Green and Black   
Song
AffiliationChurch of Ceylon, Anglican.
Websitestjohnscollege.lk

History
Historical image

In 1915, five Wardens of the Church of St. John, led by the John Henry Wickramanayake, secured a piece of land in Nugegoda from the Anglican Bishop of Colombo. They collected money to establish an English School with fifteen students.

Initially it was a Christian Mission school and the first principal of the school was Wickramanayake. In 1934, the mixed school was separated into Girls' and Boys' schools. The girls' school was known as St. John's Girls' School and boys' school was known as St John's Boys' College. The schools were under the church of SS Mary and John, Nugegoda.

There was a Tamil stream as well but the classes were initially at the boys' school and then transferred to a building adjacent to the church. It became a separate school and was called Tamil Maha Vidyalaya. In 1963 under the government re-organisation of schools, all English medium classes were transferred to St Joseph's Convent.

Past principals
  • C. E. Rubasinghe (1934–1935)
  • Rev. Clarence Pieris (1935–1937)
  • J. H. Hill (1937–1939)
  • Rev. Canon Harold De Mel (1940–1947)
  • E. C. A. Navaratnaraja (1948–1957)
  • W. T. Canegeratne (1957–1958)
  • Samarawicrama (1958–1967)
  • W. T. Bannaheka (1967–1969)
  • C. K. Gamage (1970–1983)
  • L. A. J. Jayasundara (1984–1994)
  • R. A. R. Ranathunga (1994–1994)
  • S. Kodikara (1994–1995)
  • R. S. Jayasekara (1995–1996)
  • S. Athulathmudali (1996–1998)
  • Neville Kularatne (1998–1999)
  • Asoka Senanayake (2000–2002)
  • S. Dissanayake (2003–2006)
  • K. Jayasekara (2007–2008)
  • Maj. Liyangaskubura (2009–2012)
  • Maj. Wanaguru (2012–2014)
  • Maithreepala Liyanarachchi (2015–2017)
  • Buddhika Aththanayake (2017–2023)
  • S.Dilan Nishantha Gunarathne (2023-present)
St. John's College Rugby Team

Houses
  • Copleston (Lihini) – Yellow –  
  • De Winton (Hansa) – Red –  
  • Carpenter Garnier (Kokila) – Green –  
  • Christopherson (Mayura) – Blue –  

Awards

Cyril Herath Memorial Trophy

The Cyril Herath Memorial trophy (Johnian of the Year) is awarded to the best overall student in the school. Cyril Herath served as the country's Inspector General of Police between 1985 and 1988. The Cyril Herath Memorial Trophy has only been awarded twice in the school's history, 2011 and 2015. In 2011 Udesh Chandima Perera won this award and Navodh Jayasundara won the Cyril Herath Memorial Trophy in 2015.

Notable alumni

One of the first students, Ossie Abeyratne, became the first Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo[2] and another, Cyril Herath, the 22nd Inspector General of Police.

Name Notability Reference
Susil Premajayanth Member of Parliament (Gampaha) (2000–2001), (Colombo) (2001–present)
Ray Jayawardhana Dean of Arts and Sciences (Cornell University)
Cyril Herath Inspector General of Police (1985–1988) [2]
Malini Fonseka actress, Member of Parliament (National List) (2010–2015)
Ajantha Ranasinghe lyricist, author, poet, journalist (1940–2016) [3]
Sunil Ariyaratne film director, author, poet [2]
Soma Edirisinghe film director, author, businesswoman
Anusha Samaranayake first-class cricketer [2]
S. A. Dissanayake Inspector General of Police (1963–1966) [2]
Cyril Dissanayake Deputy Inspector General of Police (1958–1962) [2]
Lahiru Udara first-class cricketer [2]

References
  1. "Nugegoda", Wikipedia, 2023-03-27, retrieved 2023-04-12
  2. "St.John's, Nugegoda celebrates centenary". The Island. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  3. "The late and lamented". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
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