The School was founded in 1860 by a British lady called Mrs. Bowen Thompson. Her husband had recently died and when she heard of the sufferings in Lebanon due to the civil strife that was present in the country during the early part of 1860, she sailed to Lebanon to try and be of some use to those people who flocked to Beirut from the mountains in search of security. One of the things she thought would be most useful was to start a school. This she did and so was born the Lebanon Evangelical School for Boys and Girls.