Once upon a time, Lenana boys lived in State House

STATE HOUSE GIRLS

Named after the official residence of the President of Kenya, State House Girls has changed its name several times.

The site on which the current school stands was the original location of the European Hospital, which later became the Nairobi Hospital. The hospital was moved in 1954 to make way for the New Girl’s Secondary School, which was split the next year into two: Highland School (now Moi Girls’ School Eldoret) and New Girls’ Secondary School.

In 1956, the latter became a mixed school and was renamed Delamere High School after Lord Delamere, the pioneer British settler. It remained mixed until 1958, when the boys moved to Delamere Boys School, which later became Upper Hill High School.

The girls’ school was known as Delamere Girl’s School until 1967. It was renamed State House Road Girls’ School. The word “Road” was later dropped.
The first African girl to be admitted to the school was Jessica Ngoya in January 1964.

NAIROBI SCHOOL

Started in 1902 near the present Nairobi Railways Club, Nairobi School was previously known as the Prince of Wales School.

In 1925, Sir Edward Grigg and Lord Delamere, both alumni of the Winchester School, led efforts to separate the European Nairobi School into three constituent schools — the Prince of Wales School, Kenya High, and Nairobi Primary School.

Sir Herbart Baker was commissioned to design a school similar to Winchester School, an old school in Winchester town in Southern England. The resulting school in 1932 was supposed to be named Kabete Boys Secondary School, but it was named Prince of Wales. Prince Edward was then the Prince of Wales.

The school was finally renamed Nairobi School in 1965. From the 1950s to 1982, Nairobi School had a cadet training course of paramilitary standards called the Kenya Regiments. The cadets were equipped with guns, armour, guns, uniforms, and a shooting range.

KENYA HIGH

Kenya High traces its history back to 1908 when the European Girl’s School was founded in Nairobi. It was renamed Kenya High to mark the independence celebrations in 1963.

The present school was occupied in 1950 and remained exclusively for whites until Ann Mithamo was admitted in 1961.

LENANA SCHOOL

Founded in 1949, Lenana School was previously known as the Duke of York School. The first 76 boys to be admitted were housed at the Governor’s House, now State House Nairobi, as they awaited the completion of the school facilities. The school was renamed Lenana School after the Maasai chief in February 1969.

STAREHE BOYS CENTRE
Founded in 1959 by Geoffrey William Griffin, Starehe Boys Centre is named after the Kiswahili word for “comfort”. It was designed as a place where orphaned boys could find solace. The place where the institution is situated later adopted the name.

LORETO SCHOOLS
Any school named Loreto was founded by the Loreto Sisters from Ireland. Loreto is the name of a town in Italy. It was originally known as Lauretana in Latin. It is now the name of a Catholic order of nuns. They came to Kenya as missionaries in 1921 and founded Loreto Limuru as a school for African girls. The Loreto Schools in Kenya include Loreto High School Limuru, Loreto Convent Msongari, and Loreto Convent Valley Road.

ST MARY'S

Owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Saint Mary’s School is named after the Virgin Mary. In Judeo-Christian scriptures, Mary is described as the mother of Jesus, or Isa in Islam.

The school was founded in 1939 by the Holy Ghost Fathers from the Blackrock College in Ireland. It occupied a temporary structure in Westlands before moving to the current location in 1954.

BRAEBURN

This chain of schools shares its name from the cultivar of apple fruit. However, according to the school’s website, the name comes from “Burnbrae”, the colonial name for the section on which the school was started in Nairobi as a kindergarten in 1968. Burn and Brae are the Scottish “burn” for stream and “brae” for hill.

HILLCREST SCHOOLS

Hillcrest literally means the summit line on a hill. The school’s official logo features a hillcrest. It accepted its first intake in 1975.

KIANDA SCHOOLS
Kianda is a common Bantu word meaning “deep valley”. It is often used in reference to fertile valleys. In Angolan mythology, Kianda is a goddess of the sea, worshipped by throwing offerings into the sea.