St. Mary's School, Nairobi
St. Mary's School, popularly known to many Nairobians as Saints, is a day school owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. It was founded in the Parklands area of Nairobi in 1939 and was long run by Holy Ghost Fathers from Blackrock College in Dublin in Ireland.
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[edit] History
In 1946, the school was moved to a temporary structure on an 85-acre (340,000 m2) 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.
[edit] Present day
From the outset, St Mary’s has always had a combined primary and secondary school. The school admits only boys up to O-Levels. It has an entrance test for the primary school, and an entrance examination for the secondary school.
Both boys and girls are admitted to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Course which is a post O-Level programme offered by the school since 1982.[1] Entrants are chosen on the basis of their KCSE, GCE and IGCSE results. The school enrollment averages 1400. The school year runs from January to November.
The school is practically joined with its neighbouring sister school, Loreto Convent Msongari, separated only by a fence and a gate.
Students are highly encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities, which include sports, clubs, music and drama, indeed this is one of the most defining aspect of the school. All the school's sports teams are nicknamed Saints, just like the school's nickname.
[edit] Sports
[edit] Rugby
In line with its Irish origins, Rugby is a central concern and a key activity designed to foment "spirit". Their rugby team have recently won the Prescott Cup twice in a row (2008 and 2009) but lost to Mang'u High School in the 2010 finals. They also host and have won the Blackrock Rugby Festival 11 times so far (1993 to 1999, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011) and have been runners-up five times so far (1988,1989,1992,2000, 2003, 2006), recently winning the 28th edition final, alongside many other cups.
[edit] 2011 Blackrock Rugby Festival results - Saints
Saints I — Pool A:
-
Team Pld W D L PF PA +/- Pts Saints I 2 2 0 0 63 0 +63 6 Ofafa Jericho 2 1 0 1 21 21 0 3 Le Pic School 2 0 0 2 0 63 -63 0
| Date | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| May 21, 2011 | Saints I | 42 - 0 | Le Pic School |
| May 21, 2011 | Saints I | 21 - 0 | Ofafa Jericho |
| May 21, 2011 | Le Pic School | 0 - 21 | Ofafa Jericho |
Saints II — Pool E:
-
Team Pld W D L PF PA +/- Pts Rift Valley Academy 2 2 0 0 35 0 +35 6 Makongeni Secondary School 2 0 1 1 7 14 -7 1 Saints II 2 0 1 1 7 21 -14 1
| Date | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| May 21, 2011 | Saints II | 0 - 21 | R.V.A. |
| May 21, 2011 | R.V.A. | 14 - 0 | Makongeni |
| May 21, 2011 | Saints II | 7 - 7 | Makongeni |
Saints I — Main cup:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch A | ||||||||||
| Saints I | 7 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch A | ||||||||||
| Rosslyn | 0 | |||||||||
| Saints I | 14 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch B | ||||||||||
| Hillcrest | 0 | |||||||||
| Hillcrest | N/A | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch A | ||||||||||
| R.V.A. I | N/A | |||||||||
| Saints I | 14 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch C | ||||||||||
| Hana | 7 | |||||||||
| Hana | N/A | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch E | ||||||||||
| Mang'u | N/A | |||||||||
| Hana | 14 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch E | ||||||||||
| Nairobi II | 0 | |||||||||
| Nairobi II | N/A | |||||||||
| Nairobi I | N/A | |||||||||
Saints II — Bowl trophy:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch A | ||||||||||
| Le Pic | N/A | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch B | ||||||||||
| Bandits II | N/A | |||||||||
| Bandits II | 0 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch B | ||||||||||
| Jamhuri | 7 | |||||||||
| Jamhuri | 7 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch A | ||||||||||
| Saints II | 5 | |||||||||
| Jamhuri | 14 | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch C | ||||||||||
| Alliance | 0 | |||||||||
| Mutuini | N/A | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch C | ||||||||||
| St. Elizabeth | N/A | |||||||||
| Mutuini | N/A | |||||||||
| May 21 - Saints Pitch E | ||||||||||
| Alliance | N/A | |||||||||
| Makini | N/A | |||||||||
| Alliance | N/A | |||||||||
[edit] Football
Football is also a popular sport in the school, with recent honours in the recent past, such as the Umbro Plate runner-up finish for the high school team in 2010 and the Strathmore Under-11 Football Cup win for the Under-11 team in 2008. The current (2011) high school team has been noted as the team to progress the farthest in all tournaments, including the Nairobi Provincial Schools' Tournament.
[edit] 2008 Strathmore Under-11 Football Cup results - Saints
| Stage | Opponent | Highlight | Result | Win/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Riara | Run from defense and goal by Wilfred Kiboro Jr. of Riara | 3-0 | Loss |
| Group | Lukenya B | None | 2-0 | Win |
| Group | St. Christopher's School | None | N/A | Win |
| Quarter-finals | St. Austin's Academy | Free kick by Davy Kamanzi of Saints striking the post | 2-0 | Win |
| Semi-finals | Riara Springs Academy | Goal from a long range shot by Kairu Jomo of Saints | 2-1 | Win |
| Final | Lukenya A | None | 0-0 (5-0 pen.) | Win |
[edit] Swimming
Under the guidance of some of Kenya's finest coaches, the school has consistently produced strong swimmers who have dominated local competitions and gone further to represent Kenya in Continental and International championships. They include Phillip Omamo, Falgun Bhojak, Stig Njiru, Shafiq Manji, Nimit Shah and Sahil Shah.
[edit] Motto
The school Motto, which appears underneath the crest on the school badge, is 'Bonitas, Disciplina, Scientia', which is Latin and means 'Goodness, Discipline, Knowledge'.
[edit] Vision Statement
To make the school a united family of God known for excellence in the formation of the human person.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance[2]
- John Githongo, Anti corruption expert [3]
- Gideon Moi, Former Member of Parliament for Baringo Central Constituency [3]
- Jeff Koinange, Noted Journalist and Former CNN Africa Anchor
- Eric Wainaina, Renowned Afrofusion Musician
- Ian Duncan, rally driver [4]
- Kizito Muliro, Noted Biomedical Scientist and Son of Pioneer Politician, Masinde Muliro[5]
- James Boyd McFie, Long serving Professor of Finance, Strathmore University, Nairobi Kenya[6]
[edit] References
- ^ International Baccalaureate
- ^ BBC News 21 November, 2001, Kenyatta son ascends to cabinet
- ^ a b The EastAfrican, February 14, 2009: 'Traitor' who stayed true to Kenya
- ^ Daily Nation, December 26, 2009: Duncan's mustang ride to victory
- ^ [1]
- ^ Boyd McFie
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 1°15′53.3″S 36°46′44.2″E / 1.264806°S 36.778944°E
