Muddanahalli christened as Shanthipura is a village situated in a remote area 40 kilometers south-west of Mysore City. It was a very backward village deprived of every facility including the basic needs. People worked very hard and were not at all exposed to the outside world. Basic education, hygiene and primary sanitation were not in the vocabulary of the people. Bishop Mathias Fernandes being aware of the needs of the people wanted to begin the service to the people. Having witnessed the work of the Ursulines at the grass root levels in Hunsur and Naganahalli he approached the Superior General, Mother Genevieve Castelino. The Ursulines took up this difficult task with earnestness as they had a charism for this type of work with their motto, ‘For the love of God’.
For almost three decades Sisters concentrated on the primary education of the children at Shanthipura. There was no high school nearby. Those who could afford would continue their education travelling quite a long distance. The girl children were at a loss. Parents would not send their daughters far from the village and hence the girls were deprived of further studies except for a few privileged ones among them. Society was changing and higher education became a necessity. Hence the decision to start a Kannada medium high school was taken.
In the year 1997 permission was obtained from the Department of Education for a high school. But the problem of a school building and trained personnel was a great drawback and so the classes could not be started. Fr Patrick Langue SJ and the French group of volunteers through the mediation of Fr Claude D’Souza SJ offered to fund the construction of the high school building. Sr Placid Saldanha supervised the construction meticulously. In the year 1998 permission to start the school was renewed and Shanthi High School was started.
Sr Nelly D’Souza, (1998-2000), Sr Cecilia D’Souza (2000-2006), Sr Leena Fernandes (2006-2010), Sr Leena Barboza (2010-2013) and Sr Mary Machado(2013-2016)were the headmistress in the past years. At present Sr. Cosess Gonsalves is the Headmistress of the school and works hard for the development of the students. At present there are 152 students studying in the school.