The Beginning
The Roman Catholic Mission of the Diocese of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, established a boys’ school at Ilavalai in 1877. It was named as “Roman Catholic Tamil Boys’ School”.

The medium of instruction was Tamil. English was taught in the Boys’ School from 1904. This was not enough for the thirst of knowledge of the residents of Ilavalai and the adjoining villages. With the ardent request by the locals, Rev. Fr. L. Rodrigo, the Parish Priest of Ilavalai, founded an English school in the year 1907. It was named “St. Henry’s School” after the name of former Bishop of Jaffna, Rt. Revd. Dr. Henry Julian.