St Mary's Academy (Rawalpindi)
St. Mary's Academy (SMA) is a private English-medium school located in the heart of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
In its Senior Cambridge curriculum, St. Mary's prepares students for the University of Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations. The school's students frequently win awards and honours, and often go on to highly-ranked educational institutions in the United States or the UK.
Now the school has switched over to the GCSE and GCE system from the University of Cambridge, but the Religious Studies (except Islamic Studies) examinations are being attempted from the EdExcel Board. In addition, the school is now a Fellowship Centre for Cambridge International Examinations. Only a couple of centres have been awarded this prestigious title in the world.
Vision and History
St. Mary’s Cambridge School was 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 Holy Family Hospital Building, Saidpur Road. Later on, the Sisters of the old Holy Family Hospital were shifted to the new hospital building and the old hospital building was given to the Diocesan Board of Education to operate St. Mary’s Cambridge School. 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 Cambridge students transferred from the St. Mary’s Murree Road, that 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, which created a lot of difficulties for boys to adjust with the environment. Currently girls are enrolled in A Level classes.
Today St. Mary’s Academy offers classes from Prep to Matriculation 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.
In 2007 the school introduced first year college classes for their graduating matriculation class. The plans to commence nursery classes in 2008 has been completed and now there around around 50 students in the Nursery section.
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 N.W.F.P. based on a vision of working cooperatively in supporting and encouraging education initiatives in Pakistan.
Location
Saint Mary's Academy is located on Tulsa Road in Lalazar, Rawalpindi.
The entrance from Tulsa Road leads up to a tree lined winding driveway to the top of a hill.
Campus
The entire campus is situated on 53 acres, and is the largest school in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi region. A walkway from the large parking lot leads up to the main building. There are a number of extensive fields and grounds which are used for a number of sporting and athletic activities.
There are three main buildings. One building houses Grade 1 through 6, with a separate playground for elementary students. Another small and utility-based building has been constructed for the Nursery Section. The main building houses the administrative offices (Bursar's office and the attached Principal's office). Grades seventh through tenth, as well as the Cambridge curriculum hold their classes.In the new block there is big library (Non of the schools in the region has such big and modern library) equipped with thousand of books and software can accommodate 150 students in one time and a conference room attached to library Two extensive and high-tech science laboratories are also present, accompanied by two computer laboratories. There are also hostels for out-of-station students.
There are separate courts for Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis and Badminton. Field sports like soccer, cricket, hockey etc. are played in the vast grounds. There are separate grounds for football, hockey and baseball and another ground is under construction to accommodate a full-size cricket field.
Today
Today, St. Mary’s Academy offers classes from Prep to Matriculation 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. Marian's have excelled in academic and sporting fields and play an important role in Government, the professions, business and in the Defense Forces.
In 2007, the school introduced its first year college classes for their graduating matriculation class. Plans to commence nursery classes in 2008 were also completed and now there are around 50 students aged 3 and above who attend Nursery classes.
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 institutions in the northern Punjab and N.W.F.P. based on a vision of working cooperatively in supporting and encouraging 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 marginalized.
• Promote trust and co-operation between educators and the community they serve.
Extracurricular activities
The academy offers extensive extra-curricular activities including cricket, hockey, track, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, long, jump, high jump and many more. The three fields (two hockey and one soccer fields) also serve as track on the periphery (400 meters) and a cricket stadium with a brick pavilion and viewing arena.
Intramurals are held between four houses. The four Houses are:
Jinnah House (Red)
Iqbal House(Green)
Liaquat House (Blue)
Byrne House(Yellow)
The school also hosts the Saint Mary's Academy Model United Nations (SMAMUN) in which schools from all over Pakistan come to participate and is one of the largest MUN societies in Pakistan. The schools frequently participates in a multitude of extra and co-curricular activities and is successful on a number of occasions.
A number of societies and clubs function within the school and students from all classes participate enthusiastically for them. The list of societies in St Mary's is as follows:
Saint Mary's Academy Debating Society
Saint Mary's Academy Model United Nations
Saint Mary's Academy Interact Club
Saint Mary's Academy Law Society
Saint Mary's Academy Arts Council
Saint Mary's Academy Music Club
Saint Mary's Academy Envo Society
Saint Mary's Academy Leisure Club
Saint Mary's Academy Literary Society
Notable alumni
- Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed Nishan-e-Haider (1951–1971)
- Gohar Ayub Khan (1937– ) Politcian, Former Chairman Senate
- Samad Khurram (1986– ) Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- Ehsan Mani (1945– ) President International Cricket Council
- Shahid Javed Burki (1938– ) (Former Vice President, World Bank)
- Gen. Asif Nawaz Janjua, Chief of Army Staff (1991–died Jan 1993)
See also
- St Mary's Cambridge School, Rawalpindi
- List of schools in Pakistan
- List of international schools