St. Mary's School, Nairobi

Saint Mary's School, commonly known as just Saints, is a private boys' day school owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. It is a combined primary and secondary school, which offers KCPE, KCSE, IGCSE and IBDP certification. As a boys' school, female students are only allowed to enroll for the IB Diploma Programme.

St. Mary's School
Official crest of the school.
Address
James Gichuru Road

Muthangari

Nairobi
,
40580–00100

Kenya
Coordinates1°15′53.3″S 36°46′44.2″E
Information
TypePrivate day
MottoMotto: "Bonitas, Disciplina, Scientia"
("Goodness, Discipline, Knowledge")
DenominationRoman Catholic
Established1939
FounderThe Holy Ghost Fathers
PrincipalPeter M. Macharia
GradesKCPE (Class 1–8)
KCSE (Form 1–4)
IGCSE (Year 8–11)
IBDP (IB 1–2)
GenderBoys, mixed (IB only)
LanguageEnglish, Swahili
Campus typeSub-urban
Colour(s)   Blue and white
NicknameSaints
Websitewww.stmarys.ac.ke

The school's motto is "Bonitas, Disciplina, Scientia", which is Latin for "Goodness, Discipline, Knowledge".

History
An early student of the school with his parents in 1949.

St. Mary's School was founded in the Parklands area of Nairobi in 1939 from Blackrock College in Dublin, Ireland.

In September 1945, the school was moved to a temporary structure on an 34 hectares (85 acres) site on the land belonging to the St. Austin's Mission in the Muthangari area of Westlands. The present-day school buildings were completed in 1954, including the twin towers that stand at the school's quadrangle and the older St. Austin's Catholic Church, which sits beside the school's parking area. In between the towers is the staff room where teachers convene for meetings and take their breaks, which used to be the school's library.

Present day

From the outset, Saints has always had a combined primary and secondary school. Although only boys are admitted to the primary and secondary schools, girls (along with boys) are admitted to the International Baccalaureate diploma course which is a post-O-level programme offered by the school since 1982.[1] Entrants are chosen on the basis of their KCSE and IGCSE results. The school year runs from January to November.

The school is near its neighbouring sister school, Loreto Convent Msongari, separated only by a fence and a gate, and is situated about 1,000 metres away from rival Strathmore School.

Students are encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities, which include sports, clubs, music and drama. All the school's sports teams are nicknamed "Saints", also the school's nickname.

Theatre

Since 1971, the school has been staging a musical every year, open to the general public. The musical week runs on specific dates from Tuesday to Saturday. The school has staged its own productions of famous plays such as The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard, The King and I, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,The Sound of Music, Sarafina!, Cinderella, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Ipi N'tombi, Aida, Zambezi Express, Amazing Grace (the musical).[2]

Notable guests who have attended the school's shows in the past include former Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga.[3][4]

People

Principals
  • Fr. Laurence Murren (1939)
  • Fr. Kevin Devenish (1939–1941)
  • Fr. Thomas O'Sullivan (1941–1948)
  • Fr. James Kavanagh (1949–1950)
  • Fr. James Barrett (1951–1953)
  • Fr. John Horgan (1954–1956)
  • Fr. Paul Cunningham (1956–1968)
  • Fr. Thomas Farrelly (1968–1970)
  • Fr. Oliver Ellis (1971–1977)
  • Fr. Michael Malone (1977–1980)
  • Fr. Sean O'Connell (1980–1982)
  • Fr. Cormac O'Brolchain (1982–1984)
  • Fr. Eddie O'Farrell (1984-1990)
  • Fr. Thomas Hogan (1990–1995)
  • Fr. John McMahon (1996–2002)
  • Mr. Simon Otieno (2003–2005)
  • Fr. Boniface Kariuki (2006–2010)
  • Fr. Francis Mburu (2011–2014)
  • Br. Moses Wafula (2015–2016)
  • Mr. Benedict Otieno (2016–2018)
  • Mr. Peter M. Macharia (2019–present)

Notable alumni

References
  1. International Baccalaureate
  2. Arts | St. Mary's School Nairobi
  3. Patrick Vidija (11 March 2014). "Kenya: St Mary Musical Thrills". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  4. @RailaOdinga on Twitter: "Arriving at St. Mary's School to watch the musical play "Aida" performed by the students." (6 March 2014). Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. Daily Nation, December 26, 2009: Duncan's mustang ride to victory
  6. The EastAfrican, February 14, 2009: 'Traitor' who stayed true to Kenya
  7. Njoki Chege (17 March 2014). "Lupita was every bit the Cinderella in high school". Nairobi News. Nairobi, Kenya: Nairobi News. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
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