Our History
De Britto High School or JB (short for Johannes De Britto) has a long history. It all began with an urgent need. Shortly after the Japanese occupation lifted the regulation prohibiting any private institutions from establishing schools, The Brothers of CCI together with The Sisters of Carolus Borromeus and Fransiskanes established a Catholic middle school. Hence, it was considered urgent to build a Catholic high school in order to accommodate the graduates of the middle school.
By a mutual agreement of the Canisius Foundation under Father Djojoseputro with the Jesuit priests and the Sisters of Carolus Borromeus, the Canisius High School was established and officially opened on August 19, 1948. The first batch of students consisted of 65 boys and girls. At that time, the school was located in the upper room of Bruderan Kidul Loji Middle School. Shortly after the inauguration, the position of school leader, which was originally and temporarily held by Father B. Sumarno, S.J. was handed over to Father R. van Thiel, S.J. Due to the existing socio-political situation, the school which had only run for five months was finally closed together with other schools due to Dutch Military Aggression II on December 18, 1948.
After the situation calmed down, preparations for school activities were carried out immediately. The girls’ section was able to restart school activities in August 1949, while the boys’ section could be opened in October 1949 because a lot of young men had just returned from the war. When schools reopened, the boys’ and girls’ sections were separated. The boys’ section occupied the building at Bintaran Kulon Street 5 and was run by Jesuit priests. It was named Saint Johannes De Britto High School. The girls’ section was run by the Sisters of Carolus Borromeus and occupied a building at Sumbing 1 street ( now Sabirin street). The girls’ section was named Stella Duce High School, which means “The Guiding Star”.
On June 9, 1953, the Superiors of the Society of Jesus in Rome decided to change Saint Johannes De Britto High School into De Britto High School. Development always occurs over time; not only through changes in management and leadership staff but also developments concerning the number of students, classrooms, and administrative improvements, including the relocation of the school building. The school was eventually relocated to Demangan. Mgr. A. Soegijapranata, S.J., who at that time served as the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang, laid the foundation stone to commence the construction of the new building.
In May 1958 De Britto High School was moved to Demangan. The school occupied a large building and was equipped with sports fields, halls, laboratory rooms, and others. The location of this school is later known as Laksda Adisucipto 161 Street Yogyakarta. Since the government issued a regulation prohibiting foreigners from teaching in primary and secondary schools, on August 1, 1960 (the beginning of the new academic year), Fr. P.F.C. Teeuwisse, S.J. who was a foreigner, was replaced by a new director, Fr. Th. Koendjono, S.J. Two years later, on August 1, 1962, the management of Stella Duce High School, which was originally merged with De Britto High School, was officially handed over to the Tarakanita Foundation, while De Britto High School was still under the De Britto Foundation which was led ex officio by a Jesuit priest as the rector of the college.