Â鶹ÊÓƵÌýfirst opened its doors in 1998, but as the product of two amalgamated high schools, ourÌýhistory actually goes back to the 1970s.
Click through the different stages of our history below to learn more about the Â鶹ÊÓƵ story.
At the end of 1996, following a decision by the Catholic Education Commission, Padua High School and St Peter’s Catholic College began an amalgamation process to form Â鶹ÊÓƵ Catholic College. The school was to open in 1998 under the guidance and leadership of Sr Noelene Quinane, who was chosen as Foundation Principal.
While Â鶹ÊÓƵ officially opened in 1998, its story goes back to 1978, when Padua High School opened to provide a Catholic secondary school option in the Valley. Padua was located in the suburb of Wanniassa and catered to students in Years 7-10.
In 1989, St Peter’s Catholic College opened a few kilometres from Padua in the suburb of Isabella Plains. St Peter’s offered places to students in Years 7-12.
The two schools enjoyed a healthy rivalry until the amalgamation in 1998, with Padua becoming the Wanniassa Campus and St Peter’s becoming the Isabella Campus.
In its inaugural year, the school took out the ACT Rock Eisteddfod, celebrated a number of community events like the Opening Mass and the Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ Feast Day, and established a strong focus on social justice. These events formed a solid platform for the new school.
In 1998, the Isabella Campus hosted students in Years 8-12 and the Wanniassa Campus hosted Years 7, 9, and 10.
Over the period of a number of years, Years 7-9 became based at Wanniassa and Years 10-12 at Isabella. Thus, the idea of the ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ campuses was formed.
At the end of 2003, with the College coming to the end of its sixth year, Sr Noelene made the announcement that she would be moving on from Â鶹ÊÓƵ. In 2004, Mrs Moira Najdecki took over as Principal.
Mrs Najdecki led the school until the end of 2006 when she became the Director of the Catholic Education Office, and Ms Rita Daniels took over in 2007 in a caretaker role. Mr Michael Lee began his tenure in 2008 and is now Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s longest-serving Principal.
At the end of 2009, it was announced that Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ was to become Australia’s first saint in October 2010. Under the authority of the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Catholic College changed its name to St Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ at the start of the 2010 school year.
Mr Lee, Deputy Principal Curriculum Michelle Marks, and College leaders Oliver Oakman, Danica Tagaza, Andre Wilks, and Isabelle Schmidt travelled to the Vatican in October 2010 to witness the canonisation of St Mary of the Cross Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
High interest in the school led Â鶹ÊÓƵ to become the largest secondary school in the ACT, and, in keeping with the College Vision, it has maintained a proud tradition of excellent academic results, a welcoming and safe environment, and operates as a Catholic school for all – not just a school for Catholics.
At the start of 2018, the College celebrated its 20th anniversary under the banner of Â鶹ÊÓƵ. To honour the school's history prior to the amalgamation, the College Leadership renamed the Wanniassa Campus to "Padua" and the Isabella Campus to "St Peter's". The 20-year celebrations coincided with the opening of two new buildings at the St Peter's Campus - the Julian Tenison Woods Laboratories and the Providence building. These buildings were opened by Archbishop Christopher Prowse, with many members of the Sisters of St Joseph (including Foundation Principal Sr Noelene Quinane) in attendance.
At the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, the College will celebrateÌýits 25-year anniversary.
It was announced that St Peter’s and Padua would join to form Â鶹ÊÓƵ Catholic College. After being appointed as Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s foundation Principal, Sr Noelene Quinane started planning for the amalgamation.
The doors to Â鶹ÊÓƵ Catholic College officially opened in February 1998. There was a strong focus on community and social justice as the College sought to create a new, unified identity. Success in the ACT Rock Eisteddfod helped Â鶹ÊÓƵ get off to a good start.
Sr Noelene’s leadership came to an end after six years, with Mrs Moira Najdecki taking over as College Principal. Mrs Najdecki led until 2006, when she became the Director of Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn.
After a year with Ms Rita Daniels at the helm in a caretaker role, Mr Michael Lee was appointed Principal of Â鶹ÊÓƵ from the start of 2008. He is now Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s longest-serving Principal.
With the announcement that Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ would become Australia’s first saint in 2010, the College received permission from the Archbishop to change its name from Â鶹ÊÓƵ Catholic College to St Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ in honour of the momentous occasion.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ has gone from strength to strength over its first 25 years, with a wide range of academic, sporting, cultural, performance, collective, and individual achievements.
St Mary of the Cross Â鶹ÊÓƵ made the statement: “We are but travellers here, so while we are here we should do as much good as we can and live in peace with each other.â€
With this in mind, the College respectfully acknowledges the Ngunnawal people who are the Traditional Custodians and First People of the land on which we gather each day. The College also pays its respects to the Elders past, present and emerging, and any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples living and working in the Â鶹ÊÓƵ community.
© 2022 St Mary Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Canberra. All rights reserved.
ABN 80 979 302 259
Phone: 02 6209 0100
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Ìý
PO Box 1211
Tuggeranong ACT 2901