Lucie Harrison Girls High School Official

Massachusetts, the general secretary in charge of the WFMS's children's work in the United States. Starting with an enrollment of 25 girls, the school opened in a two-room building. Then in 1913, the school was recognized by the government of Northern India and became part of the educational system of the Punjab region. By 1914, Lucie Harrison added a middle school. Soon, a main school hall, new rooms, and a library were added. Within eight years, the enrollment had risen to 106, as parents took an increasing interest in the education of their girls.The school continued to progress under the leadership of several foreign principals. It was originally categorized as a "vernacular girls' middle school," based on the assumption that teaching was done in the local language. But, in 1939, the government's education department discovered that English was being taught at the school. So its designation was changed to a "vernacular girls' middle school with optional English." In 1947, India was partitioned into two independent nations: India, with a Hindu majority, and Pakistan, with a majority of Muslims. Finding itself in the new nation of Pakistan, the Lucie Harrison School continued to make progress. The education arm of the Methodist Church decided to upgrade the school to a high school. In 1950, the first high school class was ready for its matriculation exam, but the school had still not been recognized by the Pakistani government.After five years of effort on the part of a Miss Blackstock, the school's director at the time, Lucie Harrison was officially recognized as a high school. In 1953, Miss Blackstock was followed by Margaret Boss, who ushered in many improvements in the school's programs, administration, and facilities. During this time, the school's increased popularity caused the enrollment to soar to 600 girls. In 1952, a former student, Priscilla Peters, joined the staff, becoming headmistress in 1957. Under her energetic and enthusiastic leadership, the school made great improvements and enrollment kept climbing. By then, parents were eagerly seeking education for their girls, but a shortage of space and resources caused many applicants to be turned away. To tackle this problem, the Lucie Harrison staff decided to increase the number of classes so that more girls could attend. The Methodist Board of Missions quickly provided the needed funds. This enabled the school to build a new wing with eight classrooms, a staff room, a library, and offices.Over many decades, the school has maintained high academic standards. Matriculation exam results were always above 90 percent. Extracurricular activities were emphasized--including school plays, debates, other competitions, regular sports, and physical-fitness activities such as girl-guide training and mountaineering. At one point, student enrollment increased to 1,100 girls. Then, in 1960, the National Education Commission in Pakistan introduced a new policy that led to the nationalization of all educational institutions in the country. Lucie Harrison was taken over by the Pakistani education system in 1972 and operated for 29 years under the management of Punjab's government. During this period, the school built a science laboratory. School fees were subsidized by the government and dropped to a nominal amount.Pakistani Protestant churches, including the Methodist Church in Pakistan, united in 1972 to form the Church of Pakistan. On January 5, 2002, after a long struggle by the Diocese of Raiwind, the school's management was returned to the church. The church, through Samuel Azariah, Diocesan Bishop of Raiwind, had to pay the government of Punjab a substantial amount of money before it could take charge of the school.