Our Stephenian History

Our School History

Brief History of St. Stephen’s School

St. Stephen’s School is one of the six Christian Brothers’ Schools (CBS) of the De La Salle Order in Singapore. The School, founded on a piece of private land bounded by Siglap View, La Salle Street and Siglap Avenue, was first envisioned by Rev. Br. Stephen Barkley who saw, amidst the coconut palm trees and the rubber estates in the eastern part of the island, a school that would be able cater to the growing number of boys.

In 1953, Rev. Bro. Lawrence Robles became the Brother Director of St. Patrick’s School. He purchased a piece of land for the development of a primary and feeder school for St. Patrick’s. The construction of the school building began in 1956 and was completed in 1957. The new school was named, appropriately, St. Stephen’s School, after Rev. Bro. Stephen, whose patron saint, St. Stephen, was the first martyr of Christianity.

On 7 May 1957, the Right Rev. Michael Olocomendy, Archbishop of Singapore blessed St. Stephen’s School. The school was officially opened in September of the same year by Mr. Maclellan, the Director of Education.

The First Principal was Mr. Edward Reinford. The leadership succession is as follows:

1957 - 1960 Mr. Edward Reinford
1961 - 1966 Mr. T J D Campbell
1966 - 1971 Rev Bro Dennis Watt
1971 - 1973 Mr. T J D Campbell
1973 - 1981 Mr. Terence O. Aeria
1982 - 1989 Mr. Anthony Chew
1990 - 1992 Mr. B. Fernando
1993 - 1995 Mr. Dominic Yip
1996 - 2001 Mr. Patrick Sih
2002 - 2004 Mdm Vivienne Tan
2005 - 2010 Miss Fang Swee Im
2011 - 2018 Mr Koh Kian Seng Thomas
2019 - 2020 Ms Loh Sing Huay
2021 - Present Mr Timothy Goh

In the first few decades of the school, St. Stephen’s attracted many Catholic pupils living in the East Coast vicinity. Over the years, as the school enrolment grew, the physical facilities of St. Stephen’s School became increasingly inadequate. The old school building was demolished in 1998 to make way for a new one that would be equipped with all the standard facilities of a primary school.

During the two-year development period of the new school building, St. Stephen’s was held at the old Siglap Secondary School building in Cheviot Hill. In 2001, pupils and staff began the year in the newly completed building.

Today, St. Stephen’s School stands as a majestic four-storey institution amidst the residential landscape of Siglap. The school caters to pupils of different races and religions living in Siglap, Marine Parade, Chai Chee, Bedok, Tampines and Pasir Ris.

In 2003, St. Stephen’s School, with a pupil population of about 1450, moved from a double to single-session model. St. Stephen’s School was officially opened on 26 September 2003 by our old boy, BG (NS) George Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC.

In 2007, the school celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a series of events such as a Sport Fiesta, a concert showcasing diverse pupil talent and culminated in the 50th Anniversary Dinner on the eve of Teachers’ day, which saw Stephenians, both past and present gathered together for an evening of memories.

In 2019, together with all Lasallians all around the world, we marked the 300th anniversary of the death of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Patron Saint of Teachers and Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. It was a Jubilee Year, and also the Year of Lasallian vocations.

We will celebrate our 65th Anniversary in the year 2022.