Kiambu High School
Vision
An education Centre producing well equipped men for the society[1]
Mission
To provide holistic, quality, and responsive education for self development and service to society[1]
The school profile
Kiambu high school is a public extra county boys boarding school in Kiambu County. KHS is located in Kiamumbi Sub location, Kiambaa S/Area Location, Kiambaa Division, Kiambaa Constituency in Kiambu County.
Over the years, the school has continued to registered good academic performance. The school was established in 1968 with the view to providing education to the local community. It was different from other schools in the following ways; one, while other schools were converted from intermediate schools, KHS was a secondary school from inception; two, it was free of religious affiliations and sponsorship; three, the school was designed for the open Plan system of education.[1]
The Open Plan System of education was borrowed from Canadian compliance with the Ominde Report of 1964. This system of education was to combine education and environment and was also emphasised on skills acquisition. KHS was founded as an institution catering for environmental studies in 1976 — it had no proper curriculum. The first headmaster, Mr. John Long, was an expert in the open Plan system of education. The curriculum lasted two years and was abandoned in 1978 due to lack of requisite staff which was caused by key teachers leaving barely a year after it had started, and with that, training collapsed. Thereafter, the school shifted to offer the national curriculum like other schools.[1]
The school is situated on a 35-acre piece of land bought in 1969 with financial support from the then Kiambu County Council. A board of Governors (BOG) was put in place with its first chairman as the late Njenga Karume who served until 1979.[1]
The first batch of students was admitted in 1971. Since the infrastructure was incomplete, the girls were sent to Kambui Girls School and the boys to Chania High School. The buildings were constructed between 1971 and 1974 and the school opened its doors to the first residents in 1976.[1]
It was started as a co-educational boarding school. However, due to the growing demand for boys’ school In Kiambu, it was converted to a boys’ school. Consequently, between 1990 and 1993 the girls were systematically phased out and relocated to the Mary Leakey Girls and Kijabe Girls Schools.[1]
It is a school that builds a wholesome kind of character. It has a strong and visioned staff. The school is a domain with men of substance, who are modeled to leave a positive mark in the society at large.
Major Milestones
The following are the major milestones of Kiambu High School since inception;[1]
1968 Idea to set up a secondary for interdisciplinary curriculum based on environment
1969 First BOG (now BOM) was formed
1971 Commencement of construction of administration, tuition and boarding complexes
1974 Completion and commissioning of the buildings
1976 Purchase of the first school vehicle, BEDFORD. First batch of resident students (40 boys and 40 girls) admitted
1979 First "o" level examinations are done
1991 Purchase of new school Bus, ISUZU
1993 School converted to a boys-only after the remaining girls were relocated to two neighbouring girls schools
1994 New tuition complex, "The Academic Complex" is commissioned
1999 Construction of the computer laboratory and the health unit
2003 Commissioning of the new Administration block
2004 Construction of the sports field through reclamation of the rocky field popularly known as "the valley" by the students
2009 Extension of the academic complex...by Four more classes
2009 Designated as a centre of excellence by the MOEST and MOF
2010 Commencement of the 200-bed capacity hostel through the ESP programme
2011 Procurement of the 51-seater and 37 seather school buses
2012 Completion and occupation of the 200-bed capacity hostel
2014 Drilling and equipping of a new borehole
2014 Construction and commissioning of a new bakery.
2014 Construction and commissioning of the ultra modern Ablution Block
2016 Commencement of construction of Academic Complex II
2016 Commencement of construction of the swimming pool
2016 Registration of the Alumni Association
2018 Commissioning of the Academic Complex II
2018 Launching of the Semi-Olympic Swimming Pool
2018 commencement of the construction of an additional dormitory 2019 completion and occupying of the ground floor dormitory and naming of Njuguna kelvin kariuki as its first house captain with a capacity of 46 foible decker beds with 92 students and a captains cubicle occupied by two people.
Student life
Students are divided into eight houses, each named after famous mountains. They wear a uniform consisting of royal blue trousers, light blue shirts, maroon sweaters and royal blue ties. The school has various clubs and societies available for the students focusing on history, law and gender, debating, journalism, science, wildlife and geography.
Sports played at the school include field hockey, soccer, handball, table tennis, badminton, volleyball, rugby, swimming and basketball.
List of school principals
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1976–1977 | Mr. John Long |
| 1977–1978 | Mr. W. Gichuki |
| 1978–1979 | Mr. S. Kinuthia |
| 1979–1984 | Mr. C.G. Wahome |
| 1984–1987 | Mr. M. Wamathai |
| 198–1989 | Mr. J. T Kiongo |
| 1989–2006 | Mr. G. M Njoroge |
| 2007–2015 | Mr. Gitau Njoroge |
| 2015–present | Mr. Solomon Mwangi |
For the 40 years that KHS has existed, Nine Headmasters / Principals have been at the helm of the school. The longest-serving was G.M. Njogoge who headed the school for nearly 17 years and was instrumental in improving the school performance and set a school tradition that still thrives up to today. Mr. Gitau Njoroge who was there as Deputy and then Principal for about 8 years will be remembered for the great infrastructure development in the short time he was there. In the formative years of KHS, the name of one, Cyrus Wahome cannot be ignored. Although he was there for only 5 years, he left a mark that still reverberates in the school even today because of his very strict discipline in all areas of school life. In total, the three headed the school for about 30 years and have a special place in the school's history.
The School Curriculum
The school offers a broad-based curriculum with 15 examinable subjects under 5 academic departments as follows;
Mathematics Mathematics
Languages English, Kiswahili
Science Biology, Physics, Chemistry
Humanities History, geography, CRE
Creative & Technical Home Science, Agriculture, Power Mechanics, Electricity, Computer Studies, Business Studies
and two non-examinable subjects, Life skills Education (LSE) and Physical Education (PE)
Academic performance
Over the years, the school has continued to registered good academic performance. The public university intake has been good over the years also. The school recognizes the great potential for academic achievement in the students and is geared towards better performance through various strategies that the school has set.
References
- KHS, 2015; Kiambu High School strategic Plan 2016-2020, Historical profile, page 2