Thirthahalli is a panchayat town located in the Shimoga District in the State of Karnataka. It lies along the bank of the river Tunga and is also the headquarters of the ThirthahalliTaluk. It is located in the midst of the dense forests of the Western Ghats. It is surrounded by a large number of villages. Majority of the people in this place were poor and uneducated. The then parish priest of Thirthahalli Fr F.P. Lopez invited the Ursuline Franciscan Sisters in 1956 for pastoral work and for education related activities. Mother Genevieve Castelino accepted the call and sent the brave trio of Sisters Mary Anne, Anecitus D’Souza and Edelfi D’Souza to Thirthahalli and they landed there on November 3, 1956.
In compliance with the demand of the people for an English medium school, St Mary’s English Medium High School was started in June, 2005, through the initiative of Sr Irene Mascarenhas. In the year 2006 VIth & VIIth class permission was obtained and in the year 2007 for 1st std to 5th std permission was obtained.
In the initial stages the classes were conducted in the old school building of Kannada medium with some renovation. Kannada medium school was in the campus hence obtaining permission for another primary school in the same campus was not possible. So in the year 2009 the management decided to shift St. Mary’s English Medium School from St. Mary’s Kannada campus to Indiranagar.
The School needed space for expansion. But St Mary’s Campus could not meet the requirements. Sr Irene Mascarenhas with the help of the locals spotted a piece of land in Indiranagar almost three kilometers away from St Mary’s. The 2.16 guntas of land was purchased in the name of Ursuline Franciscan Society, Mysore Province. In the year 2009 permission was obtained from the Department of Education to shift the School to Indiranagar. This School with two floors accommodates both primary and high school students.
Sr Irene Mascarenhas was the first headmistress. In the succeeding years Sr Deepthi C K, (2007-08) and Sr Elwin D’Souza (2008-13) Sr Sandra Pinto (2013-2016) were the headmistresses of the School. In the course of time the school campus saw a lot of improvement. In 2013-14 Leveling the play ground and fixing the Side Grill was done. Infosys Ltd, Bangalore provided 10 Computers to the school, C.C.TV was installed to the Classes with 11 cameras. In 2014-15 a school bus was purchased and in 2015-16 Library and Computer lab were equipped.
At present Sr Gracy Pinto is the headmistress of St Mary’s Primary and High School. 875 students successfully completed their studies from this School from the year 2005 to 2018. The SSLC results are always good. In the year 2017-18 there are 457 students studying in St. Mary’s Hr. Pry. And High School, Indiranagar, Thirthahalli.