St. Michael's College National School
History
St. Michael's College National School is a national school in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1873 as a private school and nationalised in mid 1970s. The school's founder and architect was French Jesuit missionary, Ferdinand Bonnel. The school was originally located in the heart of Batticaloa town, but it was moved to its present location in 1903. The new school building was designed by architect, J. W. C. Ward.
In the early years, the school was exclusively for boys. However, in 1909, a girls' section was added. The girls' section was later renamed St. Joseph's Convent. St. Michael's College has been affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka. In 1990, the school was closed for two years due to security concerns. However, it reopened in 1992 and has continued to operate since then
Sports
The St. Michael's College is famous for basketball and has won several all island basketball championships. Their victories made the school popular and were dubbed as The Invincibles. Jesuit missionaries introduced basketball to Batticaloa, and installed the first basketball court within the school premises. There were several Jesuit priests who played basketball and were good at it. Fr. Hamilton, Fr. Ralph Riemen, Fr. Eugene John Hebert, and Fr. Harold J. Weber were among the best contributors.