Jeppe High School secondary school registration – Jeppe High School secondary school application form

Jeppe High School secondary school registration – Jeppe High School secondary school application form

Jeppe High School for Boys

The predecessor of the Jeppe Schools, was St. Michael’s College. This was an Anglican private school on the corner of Commissioner and Crowns Street in Fairview. The initial number of learners when the school opened was 25. The headmaster of the school was Rev. H B Sidwell. His successor was Rev. George Perry, in 1891.[5]

The buildings of the college and the site on which its grounds lay were bought by the Witwatersrand Council for education, in 1896, as the school was struggling to function. The school was re-opened, in April 1897, by the council as Jeppestown Grammar School. 15 boys enrolled into the school and the first headmaster of the school was Mr. H Hardwick. However, financial issues of the school forced the council to reduce its disbursement. As a result, Mr. Hardwick and the rest of the schools staff were given notice. On 1 October 1898, a group of Jeppestown parents bought the school from the council for £2,500. The staff had been replaced, but Mr. Hardwick remained the headmaster of the school.[6]

In 1899, the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War forced the school to close down as the number of students slowly decreased. Mr. Harwick left in 1899, in September.[7]

The school re-opened, after the war, as Jeppestown High School for Girls and Boys. It was opened in the same building of the Grammar School, and was one of the first co-educational schools, opened by the Transvaal Education Department (T.E.D). The precise date of the re-opening is unknown. it is believed to be during the first quarter of the year 1902, as a letter sent to the Department of education by the school about the teachers being unwilling to teach under the conditions of the unfinished building as well as there not being enough space for the number of children, was sent on 9 April of that year.[8]

The Parents’ Committee experienced financial hardships at the same time of the school’s construction. In September 1902, the Education Department was presented with an ultimatum, which stated that either they purchase the premises or vacate it, by October that year. The Public Works Department advised for. Purchase to be made, until a new school building could be constructed.[9]

The new headmaster of the school, in 1902, was Mr. C D Hope. He remained headmaster until he left in 1904. He was succeeded by Mr. J H Payne, who became a staff member in 1902 and remained headmaster until his death, in 1917, during his service in the First World War. Mr. Payne acquired the building that the Jeppe Boys students currently occupy.[10]

By 1912 the new school’s grounds were not sufficient enough for the accumulating number of pupils at the school. Due to the boys out-numbering the girls, and pressure from the Governing Body of the school, who were against the co-educational system of the school, it was decided that the girls would be moved to other premises.[11]

Miss E L Cummins, the first headmistress of a Jeppe High School for Girls, joined the schools staff in 1904. She and Mr. Payne worked together on the planning of the new building. Mr. Payne did not live to see the construction of the building nor the separation of the boys from the girls.[12] file after being housed by Fairview Primary school for the first six months of 1919, the Jeppe Girls moved into their new school building.

Ms E L Cummins
It was intended that the girls of the school would be boarders. Three plans of the school buildings included hostels, but these plans were never used.[13]

In 1957, a new building was built on the east block which provided laboratories, geography and art rooms. In 1984-1986 new buildings were constructed south of the main buildings. These buildings provided additional laboratories and classrooms. The main building of the school was also renovated to provide a bigger library, six music classrooms and an audio-visual room. The authorities were prevented from giving the school all the financial aid that was promised, due to financial stringency. Therefore, the school used R180 000 from its own account to add to the new school block, and change a section of the new block into secretarial offices.[14]

In 1991, a vote was taken by the parents of students at the school to allow girls of all races to attend the school. In this year Ms. Thompson was headmistress, and implemented this change in the third term of the school year

Jeppe High School secondary school contact details

Boys’ high school
Good Hope St &, Roberts Ave · +27 11 614 1938
Closed ⋅ Opens 7:30AM Mon