St. Mary's Canossian College

St. Mary's Canossian College is a Catholic girl's secondary school in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Founded in 1900, it is sited at the junction of Austin Road and Chatham Road South. Other Catholic buildings Rosary Church and St. Mary's Canossian School is adjacent to the school.

St Mary's School, as it was then known, was originally intended for the many girls living in Kowloon , though, gradually, it came to have a student population of over 98% .

Students are taught by a staff of Sisters and experienced teachers.

School sponsoring body

The Sisters of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, as missionaries, in the spirit of Magdalen of Canossa, their founder, was inspired to establish this school in 1900.

School motto

"Cor Unum et Via Una". This Latin phrase means "One Heart and One Way". 'One Heart'. 'One Way' signifies the Gospel way of truth and fullness of life, which is envisaged in the Canossian education mission. St. Marians, all united in spirit and action, pledge to walk together in God's love along the way of Gospel truth.

School description

St. Mary's has a population of around 1400 students, from Form One to Form Seven . When students reach F4 an F5, they could choose between 4 arts classes with slightly different subjects and 2 science classes.

Most of St. Mary's students qualify for local universities, though a good number prefer to go abroad, mainly to UK, U.S.A., Canada and Australia, for further studies. St. Mary's Alumnae have been admitted to academic institutions such as Cambridge, , Oxford, M.I.T., and Stanford. Most of them were or are scholarship holders, excelling in both curricular and extracurricular fields.

The school continues to keep and preserve its monumental looks with its long spiral staircase in the entrance to the main building. New buildings are continued to be built for the school's facilities.

St. Mary's is also renowned for its drama productions-like the recent ones e.g. Nefertiti and Psyche- where their drama teacher Mr. Geoff Oliver directs the play and writes the script while the students build the stage and help with the directions.

School history

St. Mary's Canossian College was founded in 1900 by the Institute of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, a Catholic Religious Institute founded by Magdalen of Canossa of the ancient noble family of Verona, Italy. Magdalen was canonised on 2 October 1988 for her sanctity and is honoured by the Church as St. Magdalen of Canossa.

The school started with only two classrooms for boys and girls in response to the need for a school in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The small school admitted 30 pupils and was named St. Mary's School. The school developed rapidly as the population in Kowloon grew. In 1960 the enrolment was 2500 including the Primary Section. In the same year the Secondary Section was named "St. Mary's Canossian College", a grant-in-aid school for girls while the Primary Section was re-named "St. Mary's Canossian School".