SCHOOL HISTORY

          Our foundress, Mother Brigida Morello, was a great educationist who founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate in the year 1649 in Northern Italy. She realized that through the medium of education she could reach the masses and train them to be God-fearing, honest and genuine people. It is from her teachings that we have today our Ursuline Philosophy of Education

          The Ursuline Sisters of Mary Immaculate, who came to India as missionaries in November, 1934, belong to a three-century-old Congregation which was founded in 1649 in Piacenza, Northern Italy. They purchased a plot of land on the shores of the Arabian Sea in the quiet town of Cannanore on the west coast of India.

          This was the epicenter of the Mission which started sending out fervent workers into God's vineyard to teach, to bless, to heal and to make whole, the people around who were in need of care and an uplift in their lives. The five intrepid Italian pioneers, opened a dispensary to treat fileria patients in particular as the town of Cannanore seemed to have hundreds of cases of elephantiasis, as the disease was called.

          It was in 1973, that we were invited to Nasik to open a Home for senior citizens, by Mother Aloysia's brother-in-law who donated a big plot of land for the same. It was no sooner said than done !! Five Sisters Sr. Letizia, Sr. Josepha, Sr. Thomasina, Sr. Martina and Sr. Carla left for Nashik and lived in a tiny two-room cottage for a couple of years while supervising the new construction. They occupied the new dwelling in 1975. The Home was situated in a calm spot next to a large park with a beautiful panorama of a mountain range in the distance.

          They soon realized that they needed to extend their services to this Nashik society and it was suggested to start a Primary School. The people of the locality were all for it. Here again they wasted no time and started the ball rolling. Fortunately, they had many good and interested friends who did their utmost to help us in every way possible. Mr. George Kuruvilla, a building contractor and his engineer friend , drew a plan of the proposed Primary School in the form of a circular pyramid with a playground in the centre which seemed a homely and familiar setting for a group of young children. They suggested the name KILBIL, for the new school which means in Marathi, "the chirping of little birds". We felt it quite appropriate and the name stuck. Word soon got around that the newly arrived sisters were starting a school and admissions poured in. They started the school with the first teacher Mrs. Mokashi who was very much dedicated.

          We visited the local homes to inform them that we were starting a Nursery School in a two-room shed which might have been used to house animals or store fire-wood in earlier days but which were turned into Kindergarten classes. The response we received was heartening and on the first day of School in June' 1976, it was wonderful to see 15 tiny new-comers clinging on to their mum's hands when they arrived for admission. We loved them and accorded them a warm welcome into our poor, make shift classes. There was an immediate rapport between us and the families and we knew we had started our school on the right note of friendship and cordiality. Soon, other children were admitted and we fitted them into three classes, Lower and Higher Kindergarten and Std. I.

          Knowing full well that we couldn't carry on long in the present make-shift rooms, we approached the Salesian Fathers next door and asked if they could donate a piece of land for a school. To our delight, the kind priest at Don Bosco's Graciously acceded to our request and that was the beginning of the prestigious Kilbil St. Joseph's High School, which is greatly esteemed and appreciated today.