In September 1886, the “Frère ” of Lasallien schools established a school in Pera, near Galatasaray High School, where they replaced the school that burned in 1870, called Saint-Michel. In 1896, in the north of the city, in Ferikoy, the Frères built a new school under the name Saint-Jean Chrysostome. This building has been trained in primary school, secondary school and basic trade. The school was recognized and reached 180 students in 1912, but closed in 1914.
In 1921, after World War I, Frère Florin, an energetic, active northerner, replaced the school Saint-Jean Chrysostome with a bigger, more organized, more equipped school and named it Sainte-Jeanne D’Arc. After three years of training in this school, children completed their studies at Saint-Michel College (Pera) or Saint-Joseph College (Kadıköy). They were going to the institute of Commerce if they wanted to. This institute was first in Saint-Joseph, then moved to Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc.
In 1936, a law prohibits foreigners from opening schools in Turkey. All foreign schools are closed. The College of Saint-Michel left Pera’s noisy environment and settled in the buildings of Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc College in Bomonti. The union of these two schools formed today’s Saint-Michel High School. In 1956, for various reasons, the Frère closed the middle of the school. The middle section reopened in 1970 and the girls started to be taken to school. Saint-Michel is the first French High school in Istanbul to train in mixed education. The founders of “Frère” have not joined the school administration since 1976. The school is at the service of the youth who chose French for education. High school is considered “public school” by the French government.
