Maris Stella High School
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Maris Stella High School (MSHS) () is a government-aided, all-boys
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
school with autonomous status. As a full school, it comprises a primary section offering a six-year programme leading up to the
Primary School Leaving Examination The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) ( Malay: ''Peperiksaan Tamat Sekolah Rendah'', Simplified Chinese: 小学离校考试 x''iǎoxué lí xiào kǎoshì'') is a national examination in Singapore that is administered by the Ministry of E ...
, as well as a secondary section offering a four-year programme leading up to the
Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (or Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level) is a GCE Ordinary Level examination held annually in Singapore and is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore Exam ...
examinations. Run by the international
Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...
at Mount Vernon Road,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
near
Bartley MRT station Bartley MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Stage 3 of the Circle line, located on the boundary of Serangoon and Toa Payoh planning areas, Singapore. Situated along Bartley Road near How Sun Estate, Maris Ste ...
, Maris Stella High School is one of the eleven Special Assistance Plan (SAP) high schools in Singapore.


History


Founding

Maris Stella High School was founded in 1958 by the international
Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...
to ease overwhelming applications for admission to
Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
. The school begun operations with eleven teachers, running a primary section of 163 students and a secondary section of 124 students. Academic lessons took place in the afternoon at St. Stephen's School in Siglap. As enrollment rose, other schools were approached for assistance in lesson grounds. Between 1963 and 1966, Maris Stella High School functioned concurrently at different premises. Among them were Silat Road Government Integrated Primary School, St. Patrick's School, Opera Estate Convent, Tung Ling English School, and Jalan Kembangan Integrated Primary School. Numerous issues plagued the institution, both in administration as well as in conducting lessons, as the premises used were miles apart. The school also ran pre-university classes between 1964 and 1975.


Mount Vernon campus

On 22 October 1966, Maris Stella High School moved into a permanent campus at Mount Vernon Road. The campus was built with fifteen classrooms and a four-storey science block. A grand celebration was held to mark the official opening of the new school. In 1969, the second phrase of the campus development was completed, consisting of an administrative block and a 1600-seat auditorium. In total, these two phases of development cost over S$1.3 million. In 1974, the development project for the expansion of the campus was launched. The new five-storey building for the primary section was completed by the end of October 1975, at a cost of about $1.1 million. The new building was officially declared open on 11 September 1976. A separate 3.11 hectares site for the primary section was acquired in 1982, which was adjacent to the present school building. A designated three-storey school building was built and opened in 1987, and that year, in order to cope with its large student population, the primary and secondary sections were split into independently functioning entities.


Attainment of SAP status

By the late 1970s, the Straits Times reported that the school's academic performance was good, having a pass rate of at least 97% in the Primary School Leaving Examination, and a mean pass rate of 90% in the GCE Ordinary Levels. The school was also one of the few Chinese-medium schools in Singapore at that time not facing falling primary enrolment. In 1978, the school was selected as one of the initial list of
Special Assistance Plan The Special Assistance Plan (SAP; ) is a programme in Singapore introduced in 1979 which caters to academically strong students who excel in both their mother tongue as well as English. It is available only in selected primary and secondary school ...
schools. The first batch of nine schools, including Maris Stella High, welcomed its first full cohort of Special Stream students in 1979. That same year, the school introduced instruction in English for several subjects. In line with the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
's bilingualism policy of the late 1970s, the school introduced English-speaking days and requested students to speak English during assemblies.


Autonomous status and the new millennium

In 1996, Maris Stella High became an autonomous school, the additional funds providing extra programmes and facilities. From 1995 to 1997, the school moved to a temporary site at Mount Vernon Secondary School while the school was rebuilt. In 2002, Maris Stella High was designated as a Cluster Centre of Excellence for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).


Principal


Academic information


GCE O Level Express Course

As a non-Integrated Programme Special Assistance Plan school, Maris Stella High School offers four-year Special (Express) course. The Express Course is a nationwide four-year programme that leads up to the
Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (or Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level) is a GCE Ordinary Level examination held annually in Singapore and is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore Exam ...
examination.


Academic subjects

The examinable academic subjects for
Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (or Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level) is a GCE Ordinary Level examination held annually in Singapore and is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore Exam ...
offered by Maris Stella High School for upper secondary level (via. streaming in secondary 2), as of 2017, are listed below. ''Notes:'' # ''Subjects indicated with ' * ' are mandatory subjects.'' # ''All students in Singapore are required to undertake a Mother Tongue Language as an examinable subject, as indicated by ' ^ '.'' # ''"SPA" in Pure Science subjects refers to the incorporation of School-based Science Practical Assessment, which 20% of the subject result in the national examination are determined by school-based practical examinations, supervised by the
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education of the Government of Singapore. SEAB was established on 1 April 2004 as a statutory board to develop and conduct national examinations i ...
. The SPA Assessment has been replaced by one Practical Assessment in the 2018 O Levels.''


Notable alumni

* Lee Yi Shyan: Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of National Development, Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC *
Ong Ye Kung Ong Ye Kung ( zh, s=王乙康, p=Wáng Yǐkāng; born 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been serving as Minister for Health since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Mem ...
: Minister of Health; Former Minister of Education; MP for
Sembawang GRC The Sembawang Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the northern area of Singapore. The GRC consists: Sembawang Central, Sembawang West, Woodlands, Admiralty and Canberra divisions. ...
, 2015 *
Koh Poh Koon Koh Poh Koon ( zh, s=许宝琨, p=Xú Bǎokūn; born 1972) is a Singaporean politician and former colorectal surgeon who has been serving as Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment since 2022 and Senior Minister of Stat ...
: MP for
Ang Mo Kio GRC The Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north eastern region of Singapore. The constituency encompasses the majority of Ang Mo Kio (Teck Ghee, Cheng San-Seletar, portio ...
, 2015 *
Moses Lim Moses Lim (born 12 December 1949) is a Singaporean actor, television host, comedian and food connoisseur, best known for playing Tan Ah Teck in the Singaporean sitcom '' Under One Roof (1995 - 2003)''. Education Lim took his primary school educa ...
: Actor and comedian *
Cavin Soh Cavin Soh (, born 17 November 1970) (苏智诚/苏志诚 Su Zhi Cheng previous name) is a Singaporean actor, host, watch dealer and singer. Career Soh used to be a lead singer in the band Dreamz FM (梦飞船) and a radio deejay on MediaCorp ...
: Actor and singer,
Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd., doing business as Mediacorp and stylised as mediacorp, is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media prope ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Catholic schools in Singapore Boys' schools in Singapore Marist Brothers schools Secondary schools in Singapore Schools in Central Region, Singapore