The school was established in 1904 and is affiliated with the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education. Pre-Independence, this school was attended by several notable Gandhians. The school has several houses named after famous centers of education from the past, such as Ujjaini, Vaishali, Nalanda and Takshshila. Pandit Lajja Shankar Jha is the founding headmaster, who turned 100 in the 1970s. The school was renamed after him. The school's name has changed many times. Some of its former names include 'Badi Model', 'Pt. Lajja Shankar Jha, Government Model Higher Secondary School, Jabalpur', and 'Pt. Lajja Shankar Jha, Model higher secondary School of excellence'. In 2002 it was declared the "Excellence School". An entrance test conducted by VPPPM-Bhopal for admission in class IX is used. One English medium section runs in each class of IX to XII.
Alumni
- director general,DRDO, chief executive officer and managing director of BrahMos Aerospace. Late Sheo Prasad Nigam, President's award winner, was the principal during 1954-1967. A hockey player, he was perhaps the only person in India to get the National Award for teachers, without applying for it. Shri SB Verma, late SV Kanade, late RS Gontiya, Shri NK Sharma are among other national award winners for their outstanding contributions to education. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court, studied in this school. Arshad Noor Siddiquee, who has co-authored several books on the subject of engineering has also obtained his schools education from this institute. Sharat Chandra Jethi Add Member Railway Board passed out in the year 1972 from this School and he was stood 1st in merit list of MPBoard in that year Alok Dave General Manager Coach Factory Raibareli also of the same batch of 1972 was also in the merit list of MP Board. Vibhash Chandra Bhowmik, who is heading hydro sector of TATA Consulting Engineers Ltd, was also the student of this school.
Education Awards
The School offers several awards for achievements in various subjects such as Science and Mathematics etc.. These awards include a symbolic GOLD Medal and a citation. Donors can make contributions towards the setting up of an award, usually named after a person's name of choice by the donor.
