Maseno school is located 25 Km from Kisumu. Set a few meters from the busy Kisumu – Busia road and on the floor of a forested hilly landscape, the school enjoys the scenic views of the Mabungo hills whose natural beauty is further augmented by trees planted by students over the years.
Close to the school is the Maseno University, Maseno Mission Hospital which serves the district community consisting of locals living around the place and University students.
Maseno School History
Maseno School is the oldest formal education school in Kenya. It was established in 1906 by the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) as a school for the children of African chiefs. The first administrator of the school was Rev. James Jamieson Willis fondly remembered as J.J Willis.
In 1905, Willis was sent to explore the Kavirondo or lake region of Kenya as a prospective place for the establishment of a mission. After touring the area Willis pitched tent under a Hickory tree (Carya ovalis) known in the local languages as oseno (Luo) and omseno (Luhya).
That particular place was proposed to be the site of the new mission and in 1906, a chapel, the Rock of Ages, later known as St. Paul’s Chapel was built next to the tree. The place became known as Maseno and in 1906 the Missionaries established Maseno School.
The first students were six sons of African chiefs. The establishment of the school in the area attracted youthful boys from all over Western Kenya.
Besides reading and writing, students were taught various skills such as carpentry, tailoring, printing, building, telegraphy and clerical work.
Teacher training was introduced in 1920 to train teachers who would, in turn, teach new students. Those who studied at the school were tested at the end of their courses and awarded certificates.
Maseno School Perfomance
The school routinely has a good showing in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) nationwide and is consistently ranked highly in its category of schools with large enrolment.
Interaction between the university students and Maseno school students is commonplace and fostered by the close proximity between the school and the University. Maseno School Sits on the equator and has its portion on both the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere.
Maseno School is a National School and its status charges it with the responsibility of nurturing the greatest minds in the country. It, therefore, admits some of the top students in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examinations from every region the country, giving it a student body of intellectuals with a wide and diverse array of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
This not only makes the best out of the best but also serves to cultivate a sense of national unity among the student extending far beyond the confines of the school through the students’ parents and teachers.
Maseno School Leadership
Maseno School has over the years had a district leadership program which was mainly by students prefects. This system has been very effectual. The school prefects had various areas of focus during the tenure.
They also made certain that students woke up in good time and carried out duties allocated to them. the head of the Prefects body was the school captain who nurtured excellent leadership skills and most of them become useful and prominent members in the wider society.
Maseno School Academics
Founded in 1906 by missionaries, Maseno School is the oldest school in Kenya with a student body of about One Thousand Two hundred students. All students admitted to the school are hosted in one of the ten hostels present in the school for each of the three-year academic terms spanning about three months each beginning in January. The students have a month-long holiday after each term.
The school was initially a five streamed school but has a new stream introduced. This was as a result of the growing demand for admission. The form ones and twos, therefore, have six streams while the form threes and fours have five streams each. Each stream has about fifty students.
Maseno School offers O’ Level education. The subjects taught are Mathematics, English Language, Kiswahili Language, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History, Christian Religious Education, Aviation Technology, Agriculture, Power Mechanics, Electricity, French Language, Business Studies and Computer Studies.
The syllabus is set up by the ministry of education and is stipulated to be completed in four years. The school, having the best brains in the country, completes the four-year course in three years, giving the students a whole year of revision and content perfection before the final national O’ Level exams.
Subjects are taught in lessons of at least forty minutes s each. Each class has nine such lessons a day from Monday to Friday. There are three breaks between the lessons. One after the fourth lesson (Tea Break), one after the sixth lesson (Lunch Break) and another after the ninth lesson (Games time.)
The school then breaks for a compulsory game time where all the students participate in one activity. Games time run from 4 PM to 6 PM when the students freshen up, have Supper and then settle in class once again by 7 pm for personal study for two and a half hours before going to bed. A further two-hour personal study begins at 5 am attended by all students.
Promotion to the next class is based on the School’s Three C’s Policy: Character, Conduct and Classwork. The academic performance is determined by students’ average scores in three sets of examinations done each month in all of the three yearly terms.
KCSE National Exams
An average of Two hundred and fifty students sits for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations yearly in Maseno School. The school has consistently produced some of the best students in the Nation. The school boasts of producing the best students in different subjects category and has consistently led in the province. The school is also consistently in the Top Ten National Ranking of Schools.
Universities and Colleges
98% of the graduating class from Maseno School proceeds to universities and colleges all over the world. These include all the universities in Kenya and several international institutions of higher learning.
Maseno School KCSE Results
Individual candidates can check their KCSE results by SMS or online using an SMS number or website link provided at the release of the exam. Candidates and parents should visit the school for their official results slip. Results for all candidates and the school national, county and local ranking can also be found from the schools’ office.
The ministry of education advises parents teachers and pupils to check the KCSE result slip for any anomaly such as incorrect candidate’s name, school name and code as well as wrong subject grade and report to KNEC within a month after the announcement.
Maseno School Fees, Account Number and Uniform
For details on school fees structure, account number and uniform, please contact the principal or the schools office using the contacts below.
Maseno School Contacts (Address, Location, Email, Telephone and Website)
School Name: Maseno School
Physical Location: Kisumu-Busia Road
Address: P.O. Box 120, Maseno
City/Town: Kisumu
County: Kisumu
School Category: Public
School Code: 39700001
Phone Number: 0713-715956, 0738-934812
Email: masenoschool@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.masenoschool.sc.ke
School Highlights
Music: Yes
Drama Club: Yes
Debate Club: Yes
Sports Team: Yes
Boys Scouts: Yes
Maseno School Facilities
School Library: Available
Swimming Pool: Not Available
Sports Field: Available
Computer Lab: Available
Science Laboratory: Available
Maseno School becomes the talk of the town after buying a Mercedes Benz school bus
Maseno School in Kisumu County has bought a new school bus, a Mercedes Benz. The school’s latest acquisition wowed the blogosphere with comments of awe pouring in. In fact, many are questioning CS Matiang’ i’s directive that all school buses be painted yellow.
What makes the school bus exceptional is its worth. Mercedes Benz is a respected global automobile marque and is known for manufacturing some of the most reliable, reputable and luxurious automobiles.
The bus worth tens of millions is expected to serve the over a thousand students at the Kisumu based National School. The school is not new to hitting headlines thanks to its good results in KCSE Examination over the years. It came second nationally in 2015 KCSE.
Maseno School Alumni
- Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President
- Barack Obama, Sr., senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama
- David Wasawo, zoologist and educator
- Reuben J. Olembo: academic, geneticist, environmentalist. Former Deputy Executive Director of UNEP
- Thomas Risley Odhiambo (February 4, 1931 – May 26, 2003), a Kenyan entomologist and environmental activist who directed research and scientific development in Africa
- Benjamin Ayimba Kenya international rugby player and coach
- Bethwel Raore Active and volunteer American trained neurosurgeon
- Sampeter Liech Odera Harvard trained Associate Professor University of California, San Francisco Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon