M. C. C. Higher Secondary School

MCC Higher Secondary School (full name: Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School) is located in Chetpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1835 and has a long, and illustrious history, including having produced many citizens of note. It is also known for its large campus in the center of the city, with large playgrounds, verdant gardens, and various facilities.

The school in its current form, was an offshoot of the Madras Christian College, and became a separate entity when the college moved to a new location.

The school is part of an exchange program by the United States Department of State.

Founding
MCC School has its roots in a small school for boys established in 1835 when two chaplains of the Church of Scotland in Madras, Rev. George James Laurie and Rev. Matthew Bowie founded the St. Andrew's School on Randalls Road in Egmore, Madras. At their request, the Church of Scotland sent a missionary to India to govern it. Missionary Rev. John Anderson, set up the institution as the General Assembly School, conducting classes in a rented house on the east side of Armenian Street in Georgetown, Madras. The headmaster and 59 boys from St. Andrew's School moved to this institution. It was named after the supreme governing body of the Church of Scotland and aimed at attracting students from the Hindu higher castes with the aim of "conveying as great as an amount of truth as possible through the channel of a good education especially of Bible truth".

Headmasters and their Contributions
Rev. Dr. William Miller took over in 1862. The School which until then was going through rough weather grew into a college too. The college (MCC College) was founded in a 375-acre (1.52 km2) wooded campus under his leadership. He who created hostels and several academic and cultural associations, and this shaped MCC into a premier educational institution in South Asia.

In 1877, the school got its present name “Madras Christian College”. The school grew in strength and reputation, and the curriculum was updated and made more comprehensive.

In the course of time, it became clear that the school should move to a larger, quieter, and healthier site; and the effort to move the school to a new locale was intensified by Mr. Kuruvilla Jacob who became the Head Master in 1931. The present site at Chetpet, then called Napier Garden was purchased, and the school moved into the newly constructed building in the year 1950.

It was during Mr. Kuruvilla Jacob's time that the school reached its peak of excellence in both curricular and extra-curricular activities.

In 1962 Mr. Matthias took over as Headmaster. He formed the first Parent-Teacher Association. With the help of the association and other friends Mr. Mathisas added the seventh standard block, equipped the laboratories and started new programmes.

In 1967 Mr. E. D. Savarirayan succeeded Mr. Mathias as Headmaster of the school. He succeeded in adding to the school new Chemistry and physics laboratories.

Dr. Clement Felix became the Headmaster in 1973. He started a number of curricular and building projects. The swimming pool, the auditorium, the junior and the higher secondary hostels, NCC rooms, the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy, and the MRF Pace Foundation bear ample testimony to his untiring efforts to build the school to excellence. It was during his tenure that, the higher secondary course was introduced.

Dr. A. Jefferson Christopher became Headmaster in the year 1992. He upgraded the institution by setting up a computer laboratory, Junior Science lab, Basketball Court, and various other facilities. He is good in public speaking. He was born and educated in Nazareth, Tamil Nadu, a small Christian town near Tirunelveli.

Mr. G. J. Manohar took over as the headmaster and correspondent in the year 2006. He started the nursery and primary sections, and constructed a new block to accommodate the sixth, seventh and eighth standards. He introduced innovative methods and technology into classrooms, like the Smart Board Classes. He has also revived the OBA to harness their good will and support for the expanding programmes. His initiatives include coaching classes and special classes for students, career guidance, NIE (Newspaper In Education) programme, student exchange programs (The school works with AFS and sends students to United States & Japan), Health Insurance and school mate.

School life
MCC School has a variety of extra-curricular activities. The school conducts cultural, Annual day, Investiture and Competition for other schools.

Students follow the Indian tradition of wishing teachers with folded hands Namaskaram position. Assembly is conducted every day to teach and train students with current affairs, Punctuality, Thirukkural, New English words, Prayer, Bible and Moral stories.

Classes run from 8 AM - 4 PM(IST) with periods of either 45 Minutes or 40 Minutes each. There are three breaks through the day after every two periods. There are also weekly physical training and art classes.

MCC has two fee structures: Aided and Self-Financed. Self-Finance is Co-Education (boys and girls) and Aided is only Boys. While studying in MCC students are called as MCCIANS.

Notable alumni

 * M. K. Stalin
 * R. K. Narayan
 * G. K. Vasan
 * T R B Rajaa
 * V. Kishore Chandra Deo
 * P. Chidambaram
 * N. Srinivasan
 * M.K. Alagiri
 * Prashanth Thyagarajan
 * M.K. Narayanan
 * Gautham Vasudev Menon
 * N. Ram
 * A. R. Rahman
 * Leander Paes
 * Somdev Devvarman
 * R. K. Krishna Kumar
 * P. K. Basheer
 * Venu Srinivasan
 * N. Srinivasan
 * A. C. Muthiah
 * Vinod Raj
 * Rajesh M. Selva
 * Coluthur Gopalan

Faculty

 * Rev. John Anderson
 * Rev. William Miller

Playground
MCC school is well-known for the playground and infrastructure. The school has Tennis Courts, a Cricket Ground, Football & Hockey Fields, Volleyball & Basketball Courts as well as a swimming pool on campus.

Facilities
MCC have RO water, Hostels, 2 Canteens, Clean Bathrooms, largest Playground, Visual Hall with AC, Smart Class, 2 Computer labs, 2 Physics Lab, 2 Chemistry Lab, Big Auditorium with AC, Cycle Parking, Lunch also provided for day scholar(optional), Library and more...