St. Francis D'Assisi High School & Junior College

St. Francis Institution, having St. Francis D'Assisi High School & Junior College, St. Francis Boy's Home, St. Francis I.T.I., St. Francis Institute of Art and Design, St. Francis Institute of Technology, St. Francis Prem Sangh, St. Francis Institute of Management and Research & St. Francis ICSE School is situated on the hillock of Mandpeshwar, Presently known as Mount Poinsur.
It is one of the oldest institutions of the suburbs of Mumbai. The institution had its humble origin way back in 1908. When the Bishop of Bombay invited the congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Brothers, Very Rev. Bro. Paulus Mortiz, the Founder of the congegration, accompained with a few of his fellow brothers, who were filled with missionary zeal and the sole intention of improving the lot of poor, needy and marginalized ones, commenced their activities by constructing a thatched house for the Brothers. Gradually they put up a similar structure for the orphans too. One can possibly imagine the various hardships and difficulties, the veterans had to encounter nine decades ago when the brothers began their activities by starting an orphanage accommodating nearly 100 orphans, caring for their physical, psychological and spritiual needs along with their education.
The First and Second World War, halted the progressive march of this institution since, most of the Brothers then hailed from Germany and had to be placed in the Internment Camp under the British rule and to add to it, the devasting cyclone of 1948 in Bombay uprooted all the structure at Mount Poinsur.This forced the Brothrs to begin the reconstruction activities with constrained personnel and financial resources. Well, this could now, be viewed as a blesing in disguise, since that gradually gave rise to the present imposing complex.
The school secured recognition in the year 1939. Initially the school strength was made up of orhans from St. Francis Orphange itself. However, when the school began to better results in the all spheres of student's life, the day scholers also started trickling in.
From 1964, the I.T.I complex began to take shape, in order to import technical skills to the boys from the orphanage, so as enable them to secure a gainful employment in nearby factories. Today, after 90 years ot its existence, the institution educates almost 8500 students in the school as well as in I.T.I. It has now become the most soughtafter institute both for its academic, technical as well as all-round performance in sports and co-curricular activities.
Well, to sum up, I would honestly state , that St. Francis Institute is truly 'AN IDEAL INSTITUTION' in the whole of Mumbai, of which the citizens should feel proud. This institutions, have played a big role in the transformation of Borivali suburb into most wanted and peaceful township in whole of Mumbai. The institution has a large staff drawn from all religious communities. Although it is a catholic school run by a religious congegration yet the principal of religious tolerance & healthy respect towards all religions are taught in a very praise worthy manner. One thing I would not like to miss out, is the beautiful lush green surrounding in which the institution is run. Today, when so much hue and cry is raised over ecological balance, St. Francis Institutes really stand head and shoulder high above all other institutions in the city. The credit goes to the past and present Superior's missionary vision and hard work with which they have brought about the institution to the present state.

By:
BRO. VIJAYKUMAR PEREIRA
Head Mater,
St. Francis D'Assisi High School,
(Primary Section),
Mt. Poinsur, Borivali - West,
Mumbai- 400 103.