School History

1911-1915 (Miss Eveleigh – Miss Playne)

1911 : Bishop Ferguson-Davie, the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Singapore proposed the setting up of an English High School for girls
4th November 1912: Miss Eveleigh was appointed the first principal. The school was reopened in a house in 18 Weld Road with Miss Eveleigh, Miss Chitty (In charge of Women’s Work) and three students
1913 : The school moved to Ampang Road
1915 : Miss F.C. Pope arrived and took charge of music

1917-1918 (Miss Pope – Miss Mc Neil)

January 1917 : The school was recognized as St. Mary’s School for girls and St. Mary Church took responsibility for it
Miss Playne resigned and Miss Pope became the principle
September 1917 : The school moved to 17 Treacher Road, into the building which is now a bungalow with 54 day-students and 4 boarders
The staff consisted of Miss Pope, Miss Kay, Mrs King and Miss Alice Chen
Miss Pope resigned as the principle

1918-1930 (Miss Mc Neil – Miss Pring)

June 1918 : Miss Mc Neil arrived as principle. Miss Pope gave up her work in St. Mary’s and returned to England at the end of the year
1919 : The Reverend A.B. Champion opened the Boy’s Department and Boarding House
November 1922 : Construction began on the Weld Hill Road and was completed the following year
1925 : The St. Mary’s Association was formed
1930 : An extension was added and Miss Marjorie Pring joined the staff

1931-1943 (Miss Pring – Miss Carpenter)

1931 : Miss Mc Neil retired and Miss Pring became the principle
1934 : Miss Sprenger became the acting principle during Miss Pring’s furlough
The school badge was introduced and the symbols are as seen today
1937 : The first issue of the school magazine was published
The Girl Guide Movement was introduced with the formation in August of the Second Guide (K.L) with 27 recruits
March 1938 : The Boy’s Department had to be closed down because there were insufficient boys to form a class
October 1938 : Miss Florence Carpenter, an Arts graduate from Reading University and a S.P.G. missionary arrived to teach Scripture, English and History in the upper classes
1939 : The sports house system was introduced and the names of the Federal Malay states were used as following:

Blue	: Negeri Sembilan House
Green	: Pahang House
Red	: Selangor House
Purple	: Perak House

2nd June 1939 : Miss Pring left to England on furlough and Mrs. Carpenter become the acting principal
1942 : With the outbreak of war in the Far East, schools in Malay were closed
Miss Carpenter went to Singapore and later in the year was evacuated to India
The school building was use as military hospital by the Japanese
28th June 1943 : Miss Pring was killed in a fall in Kashmir

1945-1946 (Miss Carpenter – Miss Edna Yzelman)

18th October : The school was reopened with Miss Edna Yzelman as the acting principle

1946-1962 (Miss Edna Yzelman – Miss Carpenter)

1946 : The kindergarten was opened with Miss Frank in charge
12th February 1946 : Miss Carpenter returned to Malaya and was appointed Principal of St. Mary’s
6th April 1946 : The Governor of Malaya, Sir Edward Gent, visited St. Mary’s
The School Certificate class was combined with that at Pudu English School because of staff shortage
1947 : Full classes resumed when school reopened on 20th of January
Great progress was made under acting principal, Miss Agnes Pinnick
8th and 9th August 1947 : The first drama, “The Siege of Pring” and “Alice in Wonderland” were presented to the public
The name of the sport Houses were changed to that past principals: Blue : Mc Neil, Green : Pope, Red : Playne, Yellow : Pring
1949 : The school enrolment reached 500
14th October 1955 : St. Mary’s birthday was being celebrated for the first time
10th July 1956 : The Parent – Teacher Association was formed
1st November 1957 : The new classrooms in the primary school were opened by Bishop Roland Koh
1st January 1958 : The primary and secondary schools were separated
15th October 1959 : The new block of science labs and canteens was opened by Bishop Roland Koh
4th January 1960 : Students of Form Four were introduced to Arts and Science
1962 : The Golden Jubilee year of St. Mary’s was celebrated. A special jubilee edition of the school magazine was produced. Celebration began on the 18th of October
Miss Carpenter retired as principal of the school

1963-1970 (Miss Carpenter – Miss Diana Sellors)

1963 : Miss Diana Sellors became principal of the school
1969 : The new extension comprising the Art room, Domestic Science Room and classrooms was opened by the Minister of Education, Encik Mohd Khir Johari on the 4th of February
1st August 1970 : Miss Sellors went to leave prior to her retirement
14th August 1970 : Miss Maureen Morel became the first Asian principal to be appointed the post

1975-1976 (Miss Diana Sellors – Mrs. Rajendran)

1975 : Mrs. Rajendran took over as principal
Leadership Training Course and Prefects’ Installation were introduced to the students
February & May 1975 : Religious Emphasis week was introduced in February and in May, Library Week
October 1975 : A full-length musical called “Joseph and His Technicolous Dreamcoat” was put up for the public in conjunction with Speech Day
1976 : The school band was formed
The musical drama “The Boyfriend” was performed

1980-2001 (Mrs Rajendran – Miss Richards)

1980 : Miss Richards took over as principal of St. Mary’s
The full-length musical “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was staged
1987 : The school celebrated its 75th anniversary
1991 : The musical “The Sound of Music” was staged again in the school hall for the public
Dato’ Stanley Issacs become chairman of the Board of Governors
1995 : The last musical “Annie Get Your Gunn” was produced in the premise in Jalan Tengah
10th May 1997 : The model of the new school was displayed to the public on Speech Day
The guest of honos was Datin Seri Dr. Siti Hasmah, past pupils of the school from 1931-1934
December 1997 : The big shift began to the new school situated in a 9-acre site at Taman Intan Baiduri, Selayang. The estimated cost of the building was 33 million
5th January 1998 : The school term started with the enrollment of 410 students in 10 classes
21st February 1998 : A “Reunion Dinner” was held by the St. Mary’s Association at the school premises in Jalan Tengah with a total of more than 800 ex-students
31st March 1998 : The Anglican Diocese of Malaysia handed the keys of the old school to the Lion Group
6th March 1999 : The first fund-raising campaign wad held in the new premises netting RM50,000
15th July 1999 : The P.A. System for the whole schools was set up using the funds of the “Pesta Ria”
4th September 1999 : A row of “tembusu” trees was planted as a reminder of the old school
July 2000 : A new school building in Taman Intan Baiduri was officially opened by Y.A. Bhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali, a former pupils and wife of the Prime Minister
Also present Dato’ Endon Mohammed, also a former pupils and the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister. The school website http://www.smkstmary.homepage.com was launched
24th February 2001 : The second fund-raising campaign was closed with a jogathon
15th June 2001 : The official opening of the computer laboratory by Datin Amar Elizabeth Moggie, wife of the Minister of Telecommunications, Multimedia and Post
6th July 2001 : Farewell celebrations were held by the school, the PTA and the Board of Governors for Miss E.N. Richards. A farewell dinner was organized by the St. Mary’s Association at the Grand Seasons Hotel

2002-2005 (Miss Richards – Miss Goh Kai Lian)

2002 : Miss Goh Kai Lian assumed her position as successor of the previous Miss E.N. Richards
The musical “The Sound of Music”, first staged in 1971 and the restaged in 1979 was restaged yet again for the public at the Malaysian Tourism Centre (WTC) in order to raise funds for the upgrading of the school band instruments
9th April 2005 : A “Pesta Ria” was held to raise funds for the school building. The target of RM100,000 was achieved
21st October 2005 : A farewell ceremony was held for the retirement of Miss Goh Kai Lian as principal

2006-2010 (Miss Goh Kai Lian – Miss Goh Hai Bee)

2006 : Miss Goh Hai Bee became the new principal replacing Miss Goh Kai Lian
March 2007 : A jog-a-thon was held to raise funds for the school building and about RM116,000 was collected. This exceeded the target of RM100, 000. The money was used to improve the acoustics of the school hall
25th October 2007 : Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye agreed to look into the appeal for basketball courts during the school’s award-giving ceremony for extracurricular excellence
A sum of RM8000 was donated by the Old Girl’s Association for the school museum
26th, 27th and 28th June 2008 : “The Phantom of the Opera” revived the school’s tradition of staging musicals, this time in our very own school hall
20th June 2009 : A jog-a-thon proves yet another successful fund-raiser for the school

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