The sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny came to Kalimpong in 1926 on the invitation of Rev. Fr. Jules Douinel, the Superior of the Foreign Mission Fathers, who has established a prosperous mission in Pedong His aim to open a mission in Kalimpong was expressed in his letter to the then Mother General Sr. Uthille "till now there is not a single Church, Parish or even a priest in Kalimpong". The four pioneer sisters Sr. Clare, Sr. Marie Therese, Sr. Edmund, Sr. Teresea arrived from Chandanagar for the new mission field of Kalimpong. Fr. Jules Douinel left Pedong mission to work with our sisters to build the Catholic Church in Kalimpong. He had boundless trust in the sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. He assumed that a grand work awaited them to make Kalimpong a model mission. God indeed blessed the growth and development of the Catholic Church in Kalimpong. While waiting for the completion of the Church building, St. Joseph's Convent Chapel served as the parish Church. The arrival of Cluny Sisters was indeed the beginning of the Catholic Church in Kalimpong. St. Joseph's Convent was the cradle in which the foundation of Catholic Church was nurtured and flourished.
A boarding school was opened at Kalimpong where three charming Children of 6-7 years were brought to Kalimpong from Kolkata who were the first three boarders in the boarding School here at Kalimpong. St. Joseph's Convent was opened in order to cater for the orphan children of the country and also in the form of numerous other works of charity.
Today St. Joseph's Convent has been upgraded and affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate New Delhi. St Joseph's Convent has grown from strength to strength and has flourished into one of the prestigious schools in Kalimpong, highly acclaimed nationally and internationally with 1260 students. In 1962 St. Roch's Dispensary was opened to provide care for the sick.
St. Agnes primary school was opened mainly for the christian boys of the locality by Mother Joseph Superior of St. Joseph's Convent.
A special school for hearing impaired St. Mary's was formerly opened in Gitdubling in 1964 and shifted later to Kalimpong in 1974. Sr. Gabriella Olickal is the pioneer in this mission.
St. Anne's hostel began in St Joseph's Convent in 1927, primarily for the destitute children, many of them were brought by the missionary priest after their tours in villages. In 1928, St. Philomena Girl's school was established with the aim to give every girl a thorough Christian formation and the assurance of future stability. The school eventually grew to be a prominent High Secondary School which caters for the education of the young girls of Kalimpong and surrounding villages. In course of time it became a seed bed of vocations for the Congregation.
Propelled by the Spirit of our Foundress Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey our pioneer Sisters courageously embraced the challenging mission of reaching out to different terrain,hills and valleys on foot, visiting and catechising the families and providing medical care to the sick and needy. This is to note that our Sisters carried out these apostolates in all the future establishments. Sisters love and devotion to God enabled them to surmount difficulties and adapt the culture of the local people. The Sisters involvement in the apostolate made them to realise that the constructive upliftment of the poor illiterate people of area, meant the future of the local Church and strength of the congregation through education, faith formation and healing ministry proclaiming the Good News of God's love to all without any distinction of caste, colour and creed. This passion for humanity led them to venture to following far off demanding mission stations with the same love and zeal.