At a glance

St Mary’s School, Nairobi was founded in the Parklands area of Nairobi in 1939 by the Holy Ghost Fathers from Blackrock College in Dublin, Ireland. The School opened its doors on the 12th of September, 1939. The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, Heavenly Patron of St Mary’s, with 4 boarders and 13 day pupils.
The permanent buildings then were the main two-storied house, a low garage-like building at its side which acted as the dormitory and two other small constructions which acted as the kitchen and toilets. Behind the main buildings were four blocks of wooden buildings which served as classrooms and Fathers’ rooms. The School was temporary in nature and the grounds were limited. It only had a field for football. Part of the Parklands Sports Club was used for other seasonal games like hockey, rugby and cricket. The first pupil was Michael Morland and the first headmaster was Father I. Murren.
The School started by offering preparatory education in 1941 started offering secondary education. In January 1946 the school was moved to a temporary structure on an 85-acre site on the land belonging to the St. Austin’s Mission in Muthangari area of Westlands.
Most of the School compound had coffee trees and forest with 2 or 3 houses in the vicinity. The foundation stone of the ‘new school’ was the only one in the country with a Latin inscription on it by then. On 31st December, 1946, the transfer of St. Mary’s to its present site was completed.
The present-day School buildings were completed in 1954, including the two Towers that still stand at the School’s quadrangle. As the years went by other structures - the swimming pool, school hall, the cafeteria and the music centre were added. The School changed from being a boarding school to a day school.
From the onset, St Mary’s has always had a combined primary and secondary school and was a boy's School. Girls were admitted into the lower 6th Form (A-Level) around 1978. In 1983 the International Baccalaureate Diploma course, which is a post 0-level programme was started in the school and both boys and girls were admitted in the school. Today, the school still remains an academic powerhouse in Kenya.
We thank God for His mercies upon the school.