Pearl’s hill School began in 1876 at Cross Street as the Singapore Chinese Branch School, headed by Mr E.T. Yzelman as its first Principal. The school was among the Pioneer Batch of government English schools set up by the colonial government. It served as a feeder school to Raffles Institution and other government-aided English secondary schools.
In 1883, the school was renamed Cross Street School. It shifted to Upper Cross Street in 1889. Due to public housing development, the school moved to Pearl’s Hill road in 1914, next to the Police Quarters, and was renamed Pearl’s Hill School. It was later relocated to a 12-storey building at Chin Swee Road in 1971. It became known as the tallest school in Singapore. The school was officially declared open by the then Minister for Finance and Member of Parliament for Havelock Constituency Mr Hon Sui Sen, on 2 June 1972.
In its long illustrious history, Pearl’s Hill School served the educational needs of the residents in Chinatown. It was a popular school throughout the 1970s and nurtured many prominent old boys including a President (Dr Wee Kim Wee), a High Court Judge (Mr Choor Singh) and a Cabinet Minister (Dr yeo Ning Hong).
The school ceased operations at its Pearl’s Hill site to reopen at a new site in Sengkang.