St Marys School History

The history of our school really starts with the arrival of the Jesuits 150 years ago.
During the unification of Italy, the Jesuits were expelled from the Kingdom of Naples
for having backed the king and his nobles. Bishop Jean Baptist Lamy of Santa Fe,
looking for more priests for our diocese, used this occasion to bring the Jesuits
to New Mexico. In 1868 the Jesuits took over San Felipe Church. In 1880 the railroad
arrived and the Jesuits recognized the need for expansion to “new town” which is
our current downtown. Archbishop Lamy blessed the foundation of a new church and
titled it Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The church was completed
in 1883.

The first Immaculate Conception Elementary School opened on 6th and Central in 1892.
The Jesuits rented the Garcia house on the corner of sixth and Central. It began as
an all-boys school. However, the need for something bigger was recognized. Eventually
a brick building, 25 meters long and 8 meters wide was built on the site of our current
elementary building at a cost of $14,000. This new building marked the opening of 
Immaculate Conception School (at our current location) and occurred in September 1893.
It was staffed by the Sisters of Charity. There were 3 nuns and 65 male students.
In 1901 it was enlarged by three new classrooms and a large hall which was dedicated
in 1902. The hall was named St. Mary’s. It was at this time that they began to admit
girls as well.

In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt visited St. Mary’s School. The president said he
“felt an especial pleasure in meeting missionaries who labored toward the moral elevation
and character formation of the people.”

The school was closed in 1918 for a few months in the fall due to the international
epidemic of influenza. One of the school rules in 1920 was, “Spitting on the floor
is strictly forbidden.”

Nobody knows how the name changed to St. Mary’s. The rumor is that the students could not
spell Immaculate Conception so they changed it to St. Mary’s. The change occurred sometime
between 1920-1922. More likely the name was changed to reflect the name of the hall which
was dedicated to St. Mary and used for a variety of school and parish events. In 1921 the
school began to admit high school students and by 1924 they needed more classrooms to
accommodate the almost 500 students as it now incorporated grades 1-12. Land was purchased
to build the high school which is now our current mid-school building. The first high school
graduates graduated in 1925. The high school closed in 1967 but kept the 9th grade until 1977.
It was at this time that the Albuquerque Public Schools went from Junior High grades 
7-8-9 to mid-school grades 6-7-8. It had been staffed by the Sisters of Charity until 2012
when Sister Marianella Domenici who had been principal from 1989-2012 retired.

In the late 1950’s the current mid-school building also served as the temporary church while
a new church was being built. The classrooms on the bottom floor had only three walls leaving
the fourth side open so that mass could be said.

Today, St. Mary’s School remains as strong and dedicated to its mission as it was over 100 years ago.