JEPPE HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS
School in Sandton

Jeppe High School for Boys is Johannesburg’s oldest public school having been established in 1890 in Fairview, Johannesburg. Recognised as one of South Africa’s Top 20 boys schools, the defining characteristics of the men it produces often centre on the principles of loyalty, honour and friendship. Whilst many Jeppe pupils have gone on to become captains of industry, famous politicians and international sportsmen, it is the ability of the school to shape the characters of boys into men which is its greatest success. MISSION STATEMENT While taking great pride in our ethos, tradition and achievements, the School strives to develop well-educated, well-rounded, well-mannered and tolerant young men ready to face the challenges of life in South Africa today with confidence. The history of the Jeppe Schools is intertwined with the history of Johannesburg. In 1890, just four years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, realising a great need for education for the children of the mineworkers, the Anglican Church established St Michael’s College in Troyeville. The buildings of the School were bought by the Witwatersrand Council of Education in 1897 and the School was renamed the Jeppestown Grammar School. It was closed for the duration of the Anglo Boer War and in 1902 re-opened its doors. It became a government school, one of the so-called Milner Schools, in 1903 and renamed the Jeppestown High School for Boys and Girls. They were designed by Ralston, a student of Sir Herbert Baker. The Prep School, also initially a private school, occupied the buildings in Troyeville that the High School vacated when it moved to new premises. In 1919, after the First World War, the Girls’ School was established in their new buildings further down Roberts Avenue and the Boys’ School became Jeppe High School for Boys. In 1986 when Johannesburg celebrated its Centenary, the Main building of the School, and the dome-shaped First World War Memorial, which had been opened by Field Marshall Jan Smuts in 1926, were declared national monuments. Friedenheim had previously been owned by Sir Abe Bailey and served as the British Headquarters during the Anglo Boer War. Tragically, Friedenheim was condemned as unsafe and demolished in the early sixties. The oldest buildings on the property, apart from the Friedenheim stables, which are now used as change rooms, are Roan House, previously Keith Hall and Thabana or Sable House, which was built in 1902 for the Marx family. It has an impressive wooden staircase with stained-glass windows. He was elected to its first Governing Body and served as its Chairman from 1918 until his death in He was knighted in 1922 for his services to the community having been involved not only in the establishment of the three Jeppe Schools but also in the founding of the Turf Club, the Rand Club and the Johannesburg Children’s Home. Although it has an illustrious history, Jeppe has never been an elitist school. It has always enjoyed representation from a diverse cross-section of the community. It has continued to turn ordinary boys into outstanding young men who have gone on to make a major contribution to the development of the city and the country whether it be through education, law, medicine, commerce and industry, politics, the arts or sport. Boys at Jeppe get a real education for the real world.