Historical Background of Ornellas School, Pune

Ornellas School is one of the pioneering English Schools in Pune.  It has a very rich background. The land on which the school stands together with the land on which the church is built, had been donated to the Christians by the then Peshwa in the year 1792.  The School was started in the form of Anglo Portuguese Primary School in 1833, catering to the people mainly working for the British troops in Pune. In 1872, the Management of the School was offered to the Priests of the Immaculate Conception Church, popularly known as City Church.

Seeing the great need for admissions to this school and witnessing the good work done by this School for the upliftment of the people of Pune, the Archbishop  of Goa, Domes Ayres de Ornellas de Vasconcellos built new classrooms for the School. This helped the school start the High School Section. In 1887, the school was made into a High School, and named after the late Archbishop of Goa.

Till 1943, Ornellas School was catering to both, boys and girls.  It 1943, the Sisters of Apostolic Carmel started a School for girls which has now grown into St.Clare’s High School.

For the benefit of the Marathi speaking students, Ornellas had also started in 1945, the Ornellas Marathi Prathamik Vidyalaya which is recognized by the Pune Municipal Corporation.  The Marathi Section of Stds. 5 to 10 is attached to Ornellas High School, recognized by the Pune Zilla Parishad.

Ornellas School is owned by the Poona Diocesan Corporation Private Limited and managed by the Poona Diocesan Educational Society, a registered Educational and Charitable Trust established and administrated by a Minority Community, registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act and the Societies Act. The official address is – Bishop’s House, 1-B, Prince of Wales Drive, Pune 411 001.

The school presently has a total strength of about 2150 students including the English and Marathi Mediums from K.G. Section to Std.10 and a staff of about 80, which includes Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff.