St. Francis de Sales School Somonpara

The school at Somonpara was first started in 2005 by Fr. Antony Anbukumar, Parish Priest of St. Peter’s Church, Purakasia, under the name St. Antony’s School. In 2009, the Franciscan Brothers of CMSF joined the mission and renamed it St. Francis Assisi School. However, the brothers left the mission in April 2013.

In 2014, the institution was renamed St. Francis de Sales School and was upgraded up to Class VII. In the same year, a school bus service was introduced to help students from distant villages attend school.

By 2015, the school had 294 students, of whom 35% were Catholics and 65% were non-Catholic Christians. To support the education of boys from remote areas, Mermier Boys’ Home was also started in 2015 with 10 residents. In addition, two feeder nursery schools were opened at Achapara and Dabelagre to promote early education.

The foundation stone for the new school building was laid on May 20, 2015, by Fr. Joseph Thazhathukunnel, MSFS. During this period, Fr. Shiju Poomarathinkal and Deacon Noble Nakathinkal also assisted in the mission before leaving for Africa.