St. Anthony’s High School , Byculla , Mumbai

‘St. Anthony’s High School’, as it stands today, was established in 1922. Mother Alberte, the Provincial of North India as well as those in Burma, Naples, Taormina and Malta saw the value of a foundation in the city of Bombay, a seat of an important Episcopal see, and halfway between the existing FMM houses of the north and south India. In 1921, the Provincial visited Archbishop Alban Goodier, SJ, who welcomed her to take up in his archdiocese the work of her choice. The sisters began the work, and it was officially started on November 11, 1922. For Mother Alberte, St. Anthony’s was the cradle of the Institute of Bombay. She said, “It will be our Portiuncula”. The foundation of St. Anthony’s Home started with various poor charitable works of the archdiocese, which already existed. Orphanage In 1923, a small orphanage was started for Mahar babies. Later, as it developed, Mangaloreans, Goans and Anglo-Indians were taken in. Education A small school for Mahar children already existed in 1922 at the time of the foundation, and it was run by the Society of Vincent de Paul. It was confined to the institute by Archbishop Alban Goodier, SJ. The aim of starting some informal classes was to cater to the needs of a large number of children in the creche. It was necessary to enable them to secure future as best as could be done at that time. Later on, the school developed from these classes. The aim of the school was instruction and training for life, work for the development of the personality of the students and improvement of family life. It began with the Primary School, and from the modest beginning with a few students, our school gradually developed into a High School. The High School received Grant-in-aid and is under the Education Department of Maharashtra. The Primary is recognized but unaided; it is under the Municipal Corporation. Whilst we have a small number of Catholic, Jain & Hindu students, there is a large number of Muslim students in the school.