Diocesan Boys' School

Diocesan Boys' School Chinese: 拔萃男書院
Main building of the Diocesan Boys' School
Location
Mong Kok, Kowloon Hong Kong
Coordinates	22.322924,114.174229
Information
School type	DSS,Grant School, Secondary; primary (since 2004)
Denomination	Anglican Episcopal
Established	1869
Headmaster	Ronnie Kay Yen Cheng
Faculty	136 teachers
Grades	G7 (Form 1) – G12 (Form 6)
Language	English
Campus size	50,000 m2
Colour(s)	Navy blue, white and red
Newspaper	Not Rigmarole (粹聞)
Yearbook	Steps (集思)
Affiliation	Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
Website	www.dbs.edu.hk

The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) (Chinese: 拔萃男書院) is a leading boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious secondary schools in the city. The school's mission is "to provide a liberal education based on Christian principles". Having run as a grant-aided school since it was founded, the school commenced operation in the Direct Subsidy Scheme in September 2003. It uses English as the medium of instruction.

In 1860, Mrs Lydia Smith (the Bishop of Victoria's wife) and the FES (the Society for the Promotion of Female Education in the Far East) set up the Diocesan Native Female Training School, a day-school turned boarding school for native girls, affiliated with the Diocese of Victoria. As stated in its first annual report, the purpose of the school was "to introduce among a somewhat superior class of native females the blessings of Christianity and of religious training". The school sat on Bonham Road, a small concrete house on a paddy field. Lady Robinson (the Governor's wife) became the patron.

The school had a difficult existence. The Second Opium War aroused strong anti-British sentiment and so it was very unpopular for Chinese girls to learn English. The school was closed and then reopened under the name "Diocesan Female School", but its finances did not improve. In 1868, Bishop Charles Richard Alford took the school under his immediate superintendence.

On 30 January 1869, in a bid to gain popular support, Bishop Alford issued an appeal to admit boys into the school and to turn it into an orphanage. The appeal was well received by the public. In September, the Diocesan Home and Orphanage, for boys and girls, both foreign and Chinese, was established.

In July 1870, William Arthur, formerly of the Garrison School, was appointed as the headmaster and Mrs Arthur as the matron.

In 1878, the school was placed in the grant-in-aid scheme by the Education Department.