1931-1962

In the year 1931 with the appointment of Dr. Kuruvila Jacob M.A. as the Headmaster the management of the school was put in the hands of a Board consisting of the Principal of the College, the Headmaster as Secretary and Convenor, the Bursar of the college and two elected professors. In 1937, the college moved to Tambaram on a campus of about 400 acres in the Selaiyur Reserve Forest. The removal of the college to Tambaram enabled the school to expand from its dark and ill-ventilated class rooms into some more spacious and airy rooms; but the years of the war from 1939-1945 brought many difficulties not the least being the loss of the playing fields at Spring Heaven Road, hence it became clear that for modern educational needs the ancient site, the scene of so much history for over a century, must be abandoned. According to Dr. Kuruvila Jacob the old buildings in George Town may be changed outwardly as they pass to other uses, but the work that was done there has a place of its own in the history of Madras. An excellent new ground was found available near Chetpet station and the site was purchased at a cost of Rs.2, 50, 000/- in the year 1946. The construction of the building was commenced in the closing months of 1949.

The elegant new buildings were declared open on October 21, 1950 by H.E. the Governor, the Maharaja of Bhavanagar. As said earlier, the Moses-like stalwart of the new exodus was Mr.Jacob “who had already won golden opinions and proved himself a born leader of boys and men”. It was during his time the school reached the peak of excellence in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. He was primarily a successful teacher whose discipline, benignity and elegant life-style became the acquisition of his wards by nothing but a magic influence! He did work these into them by a trick; it was the use of the tool of pleasantness that was firm, and firmness that was pleasant. That he was an outstanding educationist of the country is attested by the honours that came unasked. He traveled widely, sat on national and international committees on education and received the national award Padma Shri for the excellent service he had rendered to the cause of education in the country. He left the school in 1962 for Hyderabad on a new assignment and later for Bombay to retire as Principal of John Cannon and Cathedral School. In that year the state had launched on a massive programme of democratizing education by receiving all eligible children in to schools and offering them free education. Whether it was an apprehension about the harm that the new circumstance would do to the type and quality of education the school had offered or some other cause, which persuaded Mr.Jacob to gravitate towards other parts of the country, is any body’s guess. Nevertheless, he did well wherever he was.