HISTORY

St. Mary’sCambridgeSchoolwas established by the Mill Hill London Catholic Fathers in March 1949 as a missionary school for the Catholic diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. Rev. Fr. Thijssen became the founding principal and the school commenced in the new HolyFamily HospitalBuilding,Saidpur Road. Later on, the Sisters of the oldHolyFamilyHospitalwere shifted to the new hospital building and the old hospital building was given to the Diocesan Board of Education to operate St. Mary’sCambridgeSchool.

In January 1956 St. Mary’s School, Chaklala was established and educated a number of boys until 1964 when it was handed over to the P.A.F.

With the increasing demand for enrollments and the need for a boys school in the Cantonment area St. Mary’s Academy was established at Lalazar in 1962 with a senior section accommodating classes from Class Six to Matriculation and Senior Cambridge. Whilst the senior Cambridgestudents transferred from the St. Mary’sMurree Roadthat site continued to operate offering matriculation classes. The founding Principal at Lalazar was Rev. Fr. Patrick Byrne whose dream it was to eventually provide a comprehensive educational system from Nursery to A Levels and graduation. In 1966 the junior section commenced operation and in 1998 A level classes were added. For a few years girls were also enrolled in the junior primary classes. Currently girls are enrolled in A Level classes.

Today St. Mary’s Academy offers classes from PlayGroup to Matriculation, HSSC , O Level and A Level preparing students to follow in the footsteps of earlier St. Marians who have taken their place as honorable and leading Pakistanis and world citizens. St. Marians have excelled in academic and sporting fields and play an important role in Government, the professions, business and in the Defence Forces.

VISION

The school is under the management of the Diocesan Board of Education of the Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. This board conducts a number of schools and other educational institution in the northern Punjab and NWFP based on a vision of working cooperatively in supporting and encouraging our suggestion: the Cheap dedicated server at a low cost. education initiatives in Pakistan which Help young people know and realize their own power to develop and transform themselves and society in a progressive realization of the Kingdom of God Focus on education for life, the development of the whole person, the integration of faith and culture in the changing world, acceptance of a social responsibility, the encouragement of critical thinking, the nurturing of the intellectual capacity to commit oneself to carry our responsible and meaningful tasks Inculcate values such as self respect, personal worth, open mindedness, tolerance, honesty, social responsibility and justice Reach out to all especially the marginalize Promote trust and co-operation between educators and the community they serve.

St. Marians are persons who
• Have a strong values system that guides their decisions and behavior
• Are articulate and thinking
• Are well educated
• Are committed to making a contribution to the betterment of their country and the wider community

CURRICULUM

The school offers an innovative curriculum that aims to allow all students to
• achieve their maximum potential,
• pursue through both formal studies and their extra curricular activities wide ranging interests
• become critical thinkers in accessing and applying their knowledge.

The school has permanent recognition with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education for the conduct of matriculation and HSSC. It is also registered with Cambridge University International Examinations (CIE) for both O and A Level examinations.

The medium of instruction is English for all classes. From Class Prep to Class 7 a general curriculum is offered including English, Urdu, Social Studies, mathematics, science, art, music, physical education and Islamiyat or religious studies.

In Class 7 students enter either the matriculation or the O Level section. Class 8 matriculation students commence study for the FBISE science syllabus that includes English, Urdu, Pakistan Studies, Islamiyat or ethics, mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. Class 8 O Level students pursue a general course leading to O Levels and in Class 9 commence their elective studies. Apart from the compulsory subjects of English, Urdu, Islamiyat or religious studies, Pakistan Studies and mathematics students select three or four subjects from additional mathematics, computer studies, physics, chemistry, biology, economics and principles of accounts.

In the secondary section of the school the students are offered the opportunity of pursuing either the matriculation/HSSC program or the O and A Level program with the opportunity to move between these two streams. For matriculation all students study the sciences but at HSSC in addition to pre Engineering and pre Medical, ICS is also offered. At O and A Level the program is even wider with subjects such as psychology, traditional mathematics, science, computing and business subjects. St. Mary’s Academy is one of the few schools offering A Level students the opportunity of studying mathematics at the highest level through the subject Further Mathematics.

The school has been recognized for its excellence by being the first school inPakistanand inSouth Asiato be awarded the prestigious status of a Cambridge International Fellowship Centre school.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

St. Mary’s Academy is now well known acrossPakistanfor its Model United Nations Society. Each year in August members of the society organize a four day Model United Nations Inter-school Conference for students of Classes 10 to 12. Requests to participate come from acrossPakistanand delegations from schools have to be limited to restrict the participants to about 200. The Society also has a delegation that participates in the LUMS annual conference.….Click here to read more

SMA Txt Alert

In addition to the school web site the school also has a sms text alert for parents. They receive important notices and reminders.