History
St. Mary's Ryken was established in 1981 and traces its roots in Catholic education to St. Mary's Academy (est. 1885) and Ryken High School (est. 1956). The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth opened St. Mary's Academy (SMA) in 1885 on the grounds of the property known as Rose Hill in Leonardtown. Mrs. Richard H. Miles bequeathed the property to Father Charles Jenkins, S.J., with the intent that it be used by "a religious order to conduct a Catholic school." SMA grew rapidly as a coeducational boarding school and accepted students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The burgeoning population of St. Mary's County and Southern Maryland soon rendered the academy too small and a new school building was erected in 1936. In 1956, the school expanded yet again with a dormitory, convent and chapel. With the opening of the new, all boys Ryken High School, the sisters carried on their selfless dedication as a school for young women. In 1916, to their good fortune, the Xaverian Brothers purchased over one hundred acres along Breton Bay from Mr. Enoch Abell and opened a camp for boys known as Camp Calvert. Young men flocked from the cities to spend a few weeks of their summer vacations there. The brothers' vision for this property was to eventually build a school and novitiate for boys and, in 1956, their dream became reality with the opening of Ryken High School (RHS). The school, named after Theodore James Ryken, founder of the Xaverian order, served as a juniorate for those with vocations to the Xaverian Brothers as well as a high school for young men. Eventually, with a diminishing number of boarders and vocational candidates, both SMA and RHS closed their dormitories and operated solely as Catholic high schools. SMA and RHS supported each other through sports programs, theater and music productions, dances, proms and academic instruction. By the late 1970s, both schools experienced declining enrollments and agreed to merge into one coeducational Catholic high school. In 2009, St. Mary's Ryken embarked on the first significant reshaping of its campus in almost 30 years. Phase 1 of the Strategic Master Plan was put into action with the groundbreaking for the SMR Athletic Complex. In this year, all of Paschal Hall was air conditioned and an annex was added that includes an office for the Athletics Director and a new boys' team and locker room. A 340-space parking lot was built on the grounds of the old student parking lot and the field and track behind Paschal Hall. Construction of the new 1,000-seat stadium with pressbox, artificial turf field and six-lane track was completed in August 2010. The newest building, the Donnie Williams Center (DWC), was finished in 2019 and opened for the 2019–2020 school year. It is a 48,000-square-foot facility featuring a basketball and volleyball court, athletic training facilities, health and wellness class spaces, indoor and outdoor common spaces, a stage, locker rooms, concessions, and campus store. The DWC was named after SMR alumnus Donnie Williams, a successful businessman and believer in community.Student life
Sports
St. Mary's Ryken is a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. The varsity football team won three straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Metro Division Championship 2018, 2019 and 2021. There was no postseason in 2020 due to COVID-19. St. Mary's Ryken's wrestling team claimed its first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship in program history in 2020. The varsity softball team captured the 2014 WCAC conference title. Other athletics champions: in 2010, a member of the SMR golf team won the individual WCAC golf championship; in 2007, the boys lacrosse team won the WCAC conference title. Fall sports: cross country, field hockey, cheerleading, football, sailing, soccer, tennis and volleyball; Winter sports: basketball, cheerleading, ice hockey, swimming and wrestling; Spring sports: baseball, golf, lacrosse, sailing, softball, tennis and track & field.Fine arts
Thomas Kelly designed the Fine Arts Logo. Concert band, orchestra, jazz band, Shakespearean drama, drama, dance, chorus, photography, art appreciation, pre-architecture, pottery, sculpture, photography and studio art are the main fine art classes and clubs. Each has at least one concert, rehearsal or showcase during the school year with all disciplines participating in the annual Fine Arts Festival.Uniform
Students wear button-down shirts with dress pants or skirts in the winter and polo shirts with khaki shorts or skirts in the summer. The polo shirt colors are navy blue, white and forest green. Clubs and sports polo shirts are also allowed. Underclassmen wear green and blue SMR ties. The winter uniform includes a blazer for upperclassmen and a sweater for underclassmen.General information
* Full-time faculty : 55 * Full-time administrators : 4 * Full-time staff : 24 * AP Classes offered : 24Education
Students must complete 28 credits and 65 hours of community service to graduate. They are required to take four social studies credits, four English, four religion (except in the case of transfer students), four math, three science, three of the same foreign language, one fine arts, one technology, one physical education, and four electives. Courses are taken at the college preparatory, honors or Advanced Placement level.Notable alumni
* J. Ernest Bell II (born 1941) - Member of theNotes and references
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Ryken High School High schools in Maryland Leonardtown, Maryland Private schools in Maryland Schools sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers Catholic secondary schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1981 Schools in St. Mary's County, Maryland 1981 establishments in Maryland