St. Mary’s High School
St. Louis, Missouri
www.stmaryshs.com

The two Lay Marianist groups at St. Mary’s High School with Bro. Jack Ventura (first photo, far left), Fr. Richard O’Shaughnessy (first photo, far right) and Bro. Art Dofing (first photo, third from right). Principal Kevin Hacker and Assistant Principal Jane Goff are among the Lay Marianists (first photo, back row at left).

St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis is unique in that the school community has two groups of Lay Marianists, with a third group in development. The first group was founded in 2001; today there are 14 Lay Marianists associated with the school. The 11 Lay Marianists who are in ministry at St. Mary’s bring life to the mission and character of the school in a special way. They are in school leadership, campus ministry, in office administration, and in the classroom. They serve on the Local Implementation Team (LIT) of the Characteristics of Marianist Education, as catalysts in every group to bring about a fuller understanding of what it means to be part of a Marianist school. The Lay Marianists are alive and growing at St. Mary’s High School. They continue their mission with Fr. Richard O’Shaughnessy, a Marianist priest who founded the first group.

St. Mary's High School in St. Louis remains on the leading edge of secondary education and has continued to accomplish this with a tuition significantly less than other all-male secondary schools in the St. Louis area. For 72 years, St. Mary's has been responsive to the secondary educational needs of the Catholic families it serves. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and St. Mary's administration, faculty and staff, remain committed to this tradition: quality instruction, responsible citizenship, and faith formation.

St. Mary's opened its doors under the name South Side Catholic High School in September 1931. In September 1933, members of the Society of Mary (Marianists) took over the school. A faculty of 10 Brothers of Mary taught 275 students. The first graduating class numbered 62. Enrollment and faculty grew steadily from 1933, reaching a peak in 1946 with 1,100 students. The name of the school was changed to St. Mary's High School in 1947. St. Mary's High School has granted diplomas to over 10,000 students. Today St. Mary’s has 477 students.

Renovations in 1993 included the remodeling of the school library and the installation of a computer network, which linked the computer room with the other academic areas of the school. This computer updating has enabled the school to expand its computer capabilities to accommodate the Internet and multi-media systems.

Father Richard O’Shaughnessy (College Composition)

At a Eucharist on Sept. 8, 2004, St. Mary's High School in St. Louis signed the Sponsorship Agreement as a Marianist school. Signing for the Province were Bros. Mike O'Grady (standing, third from left) and John Habjan (standing, far right); Principal Kevin Hacker signed for the school (seated, far right). Marianist brothers who have taught at St. Mary's in the past also attended. Fr. Richard O'Shaughnessy (seated, third from left) teaches honors English at the school and founded the Lay Marianist groups.