Alma Mater

St. Mary’s School was established in the Cantonment area of Pune to provide high quality education to the daughters of British Indian Army officers posted here. However, it started originally as The Bishop’s School for Girls and was known as such till 1872, when it was officially renamed and registered as St. Mary’s School.

In 1878, the school was handed over to the Sisters of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin ( CSMV) , the Anglican order based in Wantage , England. The Sisters had arrived in India a year earlier and remained here till the late 1970’s, giving almost one hundred years of dedicated service in the cause of education in Pune.

As the school grew, the need was felt to have a Boarding facility and thus was laid the foundation stone of St. Lucy’s in 1895, a home away from home. The beautiful stone building of our Prep School , which stands tall even today was built in 1926. So many wonderful Sisters contributed towards developing the school into the most sought after school in Pune and the numbers kept growing rapidly.Between 1955 and 1958, under the driving force and able administration of Sister May, several new buildings came up , including the Classroom block opposite the garden and the much needed Science block. With additional subjects in the curriculum, the Cookery block came up in 1969.

In 1977, the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage decided to withdraw and hand over the school to Secular Administrators as the burden of administrative work involved in running the school was felt to be incompatible with their religious life. The Sisters had created an extraordinary institution, the Alma Mater of which we are so proud. Mrs Elizabeth Matthew, who had been a senior English teacher since 1973and who was appointed Vice Principal in 1976, took over as Principal in 1977. Mrs Matthew ‘s dynamism, energy and drive took the school to newer heights. The number of students grew in leaps and bounds, from 840 to 2700 in a matter of only a few years.

In June 1992, the Boys’ school was started with one Division of each class from Upper KG to STD X. It is run on the same lines as the Girls’ School and is also making its presence felt in Academics and sports like its sister school. In recognition of Mrs Elizabeth Matthew ‘s years of dedicated service to St Mary’s School, the Management appointed her Executive Director, while Ms Jessica Simoes, who was in charge of the Boys’ School, took over as Principal of the School. Unfortunately, on 13th April 2008, Mrs. Matthew lost her battle with cancer, having left an indelible mark in the history of St. Mary’s.Since then the post of Executive Director has been abolished.

Mrs. Sujatha Mallic Kumar was appointed Principal in 2010, a post she is holding till date, with the same commitment and dedication as her predecessors. The school continues in its endeavour of excellence in education.