The Catholic order of Salesians of Don Bosco first came to Calcutta in 1925. In early 1955, the order acquired two large plots of land in the Circus Park area of the city on which to build a school. In September of that year work began on constructing the new school. In November 1957, with the building's completion in sight, Rev. Fr. Charles Dyer was appointed the first Rector and Principal of Don Bosco Park Circus. The school officially opened on 15 January 1958 with an intake of 460 boys. The school now has an enrollment of 3000 students. It celebrated its golden jubilee in 2008, the culmination of a year of festivities which began in March 2007. The school celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in January 2018, having completed 60 years. The festivities were spread over three days. There was a carnival, an art gallery, performances by alumnus Arko Pravo Mukherjee, the band 'Distorted' an all-faith prayer service, a panel discussion by eminent alumni and two shows.
Traditions and houses
The school's patron saint is St. Dominic Savio, a pupil of St. John Bosco, who died at the age of fourteen and was made a saint on the basis of his having displayed "heroic virtue" in his everyday life. The school has four houses into which each student is divided. They are named after Salesian Saints. The houses are as follows:
Bosco House, named after St. John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Order
Rua House, named after Blessed Michael Rua, the first Rector Major of the Salesian
Francis House, named after Francis De Sales, the patron of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and the person after whom the order has been named
Campus
The campus is dominated by the H-shaped four-storey main school building which has an outer courtyard with the statue of Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, along with statues of other animals, such as lions and giraffes, and an inner courtyard with a bust of St. John Bosco. In 2013, the school's new library block with further laboratories and classrooms was inaugurated. The campus also has special air-conditioned halls for conducting board examinations seamlessly.
Events
In addition to its annual celebration of Rabindra Jayanti, the school hosts several interschool events in Kolkata, the most prominent of which is Bosco Fest. One of Kolkata's oldest inter-school festivals, it is held annually in late July or early August. The fest initially began with just two events—Bosco Beat and Jubilee Quiz. The fest has changed completely and there are more than 16 events, which are organized by several action groups. Some of the events include Bosco Tango, Bosco Enigma and Bosco Jukebox. The fest has its own website and mobile app. Other events also take place throughout the year such as Bosco MUN, Bosco Bit, Bosco Proscenium and Bosco Polemic. The four houses compete against each other for various intramural events like the patriotic song competition, choral recitation competition and carol singing competition.
Twinning and exchange programmes
Since 2009, the school has established links with the Salesian School, Chertsey, close to London. Thereafter, students from the UK have been visiting Don Bosco School, Park Circus every year. The school has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Goethe Institut for greater collaboration and the teaching of German in school. This has allowed students to visit Germany for Inter-cultural language programmes since 2010, under the Schulen: Partner der Zukunft initiative of the Goethe Institut and the Federal Republic of Germany.
