ST. ANTONY’S HR. SEC. SCHOOL, COONOOR
The monumental mountains
The wood slovely, dark and deep
The be witching aroma of colorful flowers
The canopy of stars
The splen did joy of earth
The everlasting beauty
The grandest scenery in the world
Among these fascinations st and smajestically
St.Antony’s Hr.Sec.School, Coonoor.
St. Antony’s Hr. Sec. School, Coonoor, has been a leading institution, and it has in deed to its credit, a glorious, remarkable and long history. Rev.Fr.DE GELIS foundedtheSchoolintheyear1865with25Students, in order to cater to the educational needs of the Catholic Children and safeguarding their faith.It made a slow and steady progress in the path of love, faith and hope.
The Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel took over the School from the Nilgiris Diocese in the year 1931. Rev.Bro.Octavian(French Brother)took charge of the school as Headmaster on 1st June 1931; the school was at Tipperary Cottage. Later,it was upgraded to High School in 1932.
Rev. Bro. Eugene and Rev. Bro. John of God purchased the present school campus from the Coonoor Club in 1937. The School was shifted to the present site in 1938.
Rev.Bro.Amance leveled a slope to make a playground. He was happy to start the Juniorate at Coonoor in 1939 – that made our school into a pivot around which all the formative activities of the Congregation of the Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel revolved from 1939 on wards: Juniorate, Novitiate and Scholasticate.
In 1962, Rev.Bro.Peter, a dynamic Headmaster in whose period St. Antony’s became triumphant and won trophies in Football, Hockey and Basket Ball tournaments. In 1964, the Juniorate was transferred to Palakurichi and Rev.Bro.Peter took additional charge as the Superior of the Brothers’ Community – earlier, Bro. Charles Garnier (Canadian) was Superior of both the Juniorate and the Community, but he got transferred to Palakurichi with the Juniors.
The years from 1972 to 1978 witnessed radical changes in every sphere of activity, particularly in the construction of beautiful modern structures under the dynamic leadership of Rev.Bro.Antony of Padua.
Rev.Bro.Michael constructed the Headmaster’s Room, Office Room, Staff Room, Additional Class Rooms and New Laboratories for the Higher Secondary Classes. The up-gradation of Higher Secondary in 1978 added another feather to St.Antony’s.Rev.Bro.Xavier Montfort founded the feeder Montfort Preparatory School and did all the needed constructions connected to it at the main entrance of the school.
Rev.Bro.Arul was the first one in the Nilgiris District to implement the Rain Water Harvesting Scheme in our School. He also launched a Bio-Gas Plant in our school premises, so we could handle all the wastes in a useful manner.
Rev.Bro.Johnson constructed Additional Class Rooms, a New Chapel and Galleries.Thus,the school has maderapid strides in every field of activity under the skil fulguidance, selfless sacrifice and untiring hard work of the world renowned Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel.
Rev.Bro.Soosairaj modernized the Computer Lab, thus revolutionizing the teaching and learning process.
At present Rev.Bro.Dr.A.Thomas Selvam is at the helm of affairs. Under his dynamic leadership our school is marching towards the zenith.Undoubtedly, our school is catering to the academic needs of the marginalized strata of society in and around Coonoor.Most of our students are hailing from poor families. They are the sons and daughters of coolies and state workers.Most of the parents are illiterates. Our Brothers are working for their welfare round the clock,with the lofty aim: “Poverty should not be an obstacle on their path towards progress.” Our Brothers are working hard to bring the light of prosperity in their lives.They offer fee concession to the poor boys.Free notebooks, uniform clothes, shoes,pullovers, scholarships and so many other benefits are given to them to pursue their studies cheerfully.Because of this selfless service, at present we have the impressive strength of 1450 students in our school (LKG to 12th Std.).
“Books train one’s imagination to think big.” In order to develop there ading habit of our children, we have a very big library in our school.We are proud to say that we have a very good collection of 35,000 books in our library. Very rare books that are not available in the market are also stored in our library. Every day,the students are taken to the library and motivated to read books and news papers to keep them updated in knowledge.
The Juniorate was revived again in full swing at St.Antony’s Coonoor in 2020. The inauguration of the Juniorate House in 2022 became yet another milestone. The introduction of Smart Boards in the Classes, the installation of Mother Mary Statue at the entrance, the renovation of the Chapel and Library, the construction of a magnificent Montfort Foyer (topping of School Assembly Area), etc., speak volumes for Bro. Thomas Selvam’s tremendous efforts to provide St. Antony’s a better atmosphere for an effective teaching-learning process.
The present impressive status of St.Antony’s has been the out come of the selfless sacrifice and untiring hard work of the following Headmasters & Correspondents:
| 1) 1931 – 1934 | — | REV. BRO. OCTAVIAN |
| 2) 1934 – 1941 | — | REV. BRO. AMANCE |
| 3) 1941 – 1947 | — | REV. BRO. JOHN OF GOD |
| 4) 1947 – 1948 | — | REV. BRO. AMANCE |
| 5) 1948 – 1952 | — | REV. BRO. CLAUDDIN |
| 6) 1948 – 1950 | — | MR. DHARMARAJA SIVA |
| 7) 1950 – 1954 | — | REV. BRO. JOHN OF THE CROSS |
| 8) 1954 – 1955 | — | REV. BRO. CLAUDDIN |
| 9) 1955 – 1956 | — | REV. BRO. JAMES |
| 10) 1956 – 1957 | — | MR. RAMAKRISHNA IYER |
| 11) 1957 – 1962 | — | REV. BRO. EUGENIUS |
| 12) 1962 – 1968 | — | REV. BRO. PETER |
| 13) 1968 – 1971 | — | REV. BRO. ALEXANDER |
| 14) 1971 – 1972 | — | REV. BRO. RICHARD |
| 15) 1972 – 1978 | — | REV. BRO. ANTONY OF PADUA |
| 16) 1978 – 1981 | — | REV. BRO. S.MICHAEL |
| 17) 1981- 1983 | — | REV. BRO. M.P. JOHN |
| 18) 1983 – 1986 | — | REV. BRO. JOHN BERCHMANS |
| 19) 1986 – 1987 | — | REV. BRO. ANSLEM |
| 20) 1987 – 1991 | — | REV. BRO. S.MICHAEL. |
| 21) 1991 – 1992 | — | REV. BRO. SEBASTIAN JOSEPH |
| 22) 1992 – 1993 | — | REV. BRO. THOMAS THOTTIYIL |
| 23) 1993 – 1996 | — | REV. BRO. S.MICHAEL |
| 24) 1996 – 2001 | — | REV. BRO. XAVIER MONTFORT |
| 25) 2001 – 2007 | — | REV. BRO.M. ARUL |
| 26) 2007 – 2012 | — | REV. BRO. JOHNSON |
| 27) 2012 – 2015 | — | REV. BRO. SOOSAIRAJ |
| 28) 2015 – 2018 | — | Rev. Bro. M.ARUL |
| 29) 2018 – 2026 | — | Rev. Bro. Dr. A.THOMAS SELVAM
|
30) 2026 – REV. BRO. JOSEPH ANTONY BALAN
Details of one other institution handled by the Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel in the Nilgiris, precisely in Ooty, for some years:
In1942, the Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel took charge of St.Joseph’s School, Ooty, at the request of the diocese. Rev.Bro.Amance was appointed as Headmaster from 1942 to 1946 and the following Brothers continued to render their service as Headmasters.
1947 – Rev.Bro. Corentine
1948-1951 -Rev.Bro. Amance
1951-1954 -Rev.Bro. Augustine
1954-1959 -Rev.Bro. Montfort
In1954,St.Joseph’s School management was handed back to the diocese, but Bro. Montfort continued to serve till 1959. The school was later on handed over to the Jesuits of Karnataka, who managed it for some time.