It all began in 1912 when Bro. James, the Bro. Visitor at that time, purchased a piece of land with a "malay bungalow" on it to start a school. As the number of students subsequently increased, Bro. Paul Gallagher was commissioned to plan out a building to house the school in the year 1920.
 

A couple of years later on 1st June 1922, Mr.C.W.C. Parr, the British resident of Perak laid the foundation stone, marking the commencing of work on the building. Many VIPs, among the citizens of Ipoh, witnessed the ceremony. To accommodate the fast growing number of students, the building went under expansion and was extended eastward to the end of the existing hall. This included the present foyer, the chapel, science labs, additional classrooms, the school hall and Brother's quarters. With this, the present facade of the school as it is now was established.

The Japanese "took over: the school in 1942. The entire building was the house for the Japanese Administration and it was renovated to suit to their needs. The present lecture theatre was filled with sand and used as a bunker, an underground shelter, by the Governor and his senior-ranking officers during air raids.

Meanwhile, the first classroom next to the main staircase (1A1/3A1) was the telephone exchange centre while the other classrooms housed various government offices, including the Police Headquarters. Beside that, the current school hall was the State Treasury and important documents were safeguarded and kept in the room below the main staircase.

After the Japanese Occupation had ended, Brother Denis took the Directorship of the school. During his administration, further expansion of the school took place. Both wings of the school were extended so as to accommodate more classes.

When Bro.Paul became the director, the need for further expansion arose once again. As the cost of constructing another building with the same architectural design was extremely high, a four-storey building was built adjoining it. This new building , now known as the "U-Paul Block", houses the library, science labs, classrooms, staff room, offices and canteen.

Finally, the school as it today, was established. Besides being famed for its architectural beauty, it has also been the alma mater of many current leading citizens of Malaysia, and will always be a distinguished centre of education stressing all-round excellence.