St. Mary School history

1868 – At Alemany’s invitation, the Christian Brothers take over operation of the failing College, arriving in San Francisco by steamer from New York City via Panama on August 10, 1868.

1870 – The Brothers establish St Joseph’s Academy at 5th and Madison near the harbor in Oakland for boys in grades 1-9.

St Mary School was founded on September 11, 1871, by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It’s reunited again to tell the story of a school that began as St Agnes Academy on land donated by Stockton founder Charles Weber in 1876.

In 1888, the order left, but the school remained open under the direction of Katherine Murphy.

1889 – The College moves across the Bay to larger facilities at 30th and Broadway in Oakland.

In 1890, three Presentation sisters from Fitchburg, Massachusetts assumed the administration of the school at the invitation of Bishop Mora of the Monterey-Los Angeles Diocese.

After the 1894 fire, classes returned to the Mission Road site for two years until repairs to the Brickpile were completed .

1903 – St Joseph’s Academy moves to Peralta Park, Berkeley.

St Mary’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Founded in 1904, St Mary’s has been preparing its students to achieve success for 113 years.

Mela, the first Pastor of St Mary Church when it was located in downtown Sacramento in 1906.

St Agnes Academy moved in 1914 to a new building at San Joaquin and Park streets, which is now used for the Women’s Center Friends and Family and the Stockton Unified School District’s Police Department.

1927 – Having outgrown the Oakland facilities, the high school department separates from Saint Mary’s College and moves to Peralta Park in Berkeley and the newly-built 51,000 square foot De La Salle Hall.

The College moves the next year (1928) to Moraga, and the venerable old Brickpile school building in Oakland is demolished.

Morelli’s parents, Pete and Marie, met at St Mary’s, graduating in 1937 and ’38, respectively.

By 1950 a house was moved and remodeled into the current parish rectory.

In 1951, fundraising began for the school.

The present school building was opened in September, 1953, after being rebuilt after a devastating fire.

1954: Construction of our present school began.

The school was built with classes beginning on September 18, 1955.

1956 – St Joseph’s Hall is built to house the high school and junior high school boarding students and the school library.

A new grade was added each year until 1960 when the first eighth-grade class graduated.

1969 – St Joseph’s Academy grammar school moves to Mont La Salle, Napa, and becomes a residence school for boys in grades five through eight.

1975: Dorothy Blake made SMHS and Buffalo Diocese history by being the first lay woman appointed principal.

He became the school’s first lay principal in 1989, succeeding the Rev.

1995 – Saint Mary’s welcomes young women to its freshmen and sophomore classes in its first year of coeducation .

2002 – Frates Memorial Hall opens, providing eight new classrooms and an amphitheater, gift of Doctor and Mrs.

2004: St Mary's launched a huge campaign to add a Field House to its campus.

2007: First graduate of St Mary's named principal.

2008 – Saint Mary’s celebrates the 145th anniversary of its founding and breaks ground for Thomas M. Brady track and field.

2013 – Saint Mary’s College High School celebrates the 150th Anniversary of its founding.

When Morelli became president in 2014, Kathy Smith was named principal.

2016: St Mary's adopted a new school model.