St Mary's College is a

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Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

primary and secondary school for girls located in the "square mile" of the city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

History

At the request of Laurence Sheil, then the Bishop of Adelaide, St Mary's College was initiated by the

Dominican Sisters The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius II ...

, who arrived from the Dominican Convent in Cabra, Ireland, as missionaries. The foundation stone was laid in 1868. The

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sis ...

provided primary education for students from the lower socioeconomic status, while the Dominican Sisters took responsibility for middle-class girls from both Catholic and other religious backgrounds whose parents could afford post-primary education. It is the oldest continuously running all-girl's school in South Australia; originally located in cottages on West Terrace and Franklin Street, with the convent and chapel from when the nuns first established the school is still there today.

Academics

In 2021, over 800 girls attended the school in classes from Reception (age 5) to year 12 (age 17–18).

Houses

When pupils first enrol at St. Mary's, they are assigned to one of the four sporting houses at the school; St Mary's, St Dominics, St Catherines and St Thomas. Annually, these teams compete against one another in events such as Sports Day, and other minor lunch sporting events such as Basketball, Netball and Volleyball.

Immersion Programs

St Mary's selects Year 11 students to attend pilgrimages annually. One is called the "Lands Trip," and selects 6 - 8 girls to travel into the

APY Lands Annual percentage yield (APY) is a normalized representation of an interest rate, based on a compounding period of one year. APY figures allow a reasonable, single-point comparison of different offerings with varying compounding schedules. Howev ...

to visit an Aboriginal community.. The other pilgrimage is to Vietnam. In 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 St Mary's College and Christian Brothers College students combined to participate in a Pilgrimage to Vietnam. The primary focus of the Pilgrimage is on giving service and working with orphaned, disabled children in the Phu My Orphanage in the Thi Nghe District, Saigon. The

Orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

is operated by the Sisters of St Paul de Charters, and houses over 300 children. However, due to new management from the Vietnamese school, St Mary's has stopped their visits to Vietnam in 2019.

Campus

The campus contains: * Four buildings containing classroom, computer, science, art and home economic facilities: the Boylan, Moore, Catherine and Kavanagh buildings * Gymnasium * Playground for Junior School * Veritas Lawns and Convent Lawns * STEM Centre * Tennis courts * Transportable classrooms * The Performing Arts Centre College * The restored Chapel and Convent The school also shares a campus with St Patrick's Catholic Church and resides next to the Archbishop's House on West Terrace. The school borders three streets, the front-facing Franklin Street, the west side along West Terrace, and the back facing

Grote Street Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is on the northern border of Chinatown and the Adelaide Central Market, and is a lively centre for shopping and restaurants. Th ...

Notable alumni

Alex Chidiac Alexandra Carla Chidiac (born 15 January 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for A-League Women side Melbourne Victory, and the Australia women's national team. Early life and education Chidiac was bor ...

, Matildas football player * Katelyn Pope, Port Adelaide Women's player *

Megan Blake Irwin Megan Blake Irwin (Born July 9, 1992) is an Australian model. Irwin was born in Adelaide, Australia and was discovered at age 14 by Pride Models. Both her mother and her sister modeled and she followed in their footsteps. Irwin appeared in M ...

, Model

References

External links

St Mary's College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's College, Adelaide Educational institutions established in 1869 Girls' schools in South Australia Catholic secondary schools in Adelaide 1869 establishments in Australia Dominican schools in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia