History

Saint Mary’s High School is the oldest Catholic high school in Arizona and has been a part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area since 1917. Saint Mary’s is Arizona’s first Catholic high school, founded by the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The founders were able to set aside classroom space for 4 boys and 10 girls in Saint Anthony’s Elementary school. This was the beginning of the Saint Mary’s community.

During the 1930's, one city block bordered from Polk to Taylor and Second to Third Streets, had been purchased for $24, 000. With this new land, a second Saint Mary’s was built by the Franciscan Fathers whose goal was to educate those boys displaced by the closure of Brophy High School. The separation of both boys’ and girls’ schools lasted until 1958. By the end of the year, the girls’ school was condemned to make way for the Civic Plaza. Both schools were combined, making it mixed once again. As a result of boys and girls attending the same facility, it became necessary to add classrooms. On March 20, 1961, Reverend Francis J. Green, O.D., Bishop of Tucson, performed the dedication ceremony for the new seven-room addition to the school. Included with this addition were a ramada and a much needed library.


St. Mary's Boy's High School	St. Mary's Girl's High School

Throughout the years, many new and excellent additions were made to all three of the differently located schools. However, Saint Mary’s High School never had a gymnasium, baseball/softball diamond, or football field of its own for numerous years. The athletes found themselves using an unsafe area behind the school to practice on. Luckily, on October 5, 1950, ground was broken under the guidance of Father Victor Bucher, O.F.M., pastor of Saint Mary’s parish. The Dads’ Club and alumni of Saint Mary’s were able to begin raising funds for the new Knights' Gym.

Since that time, the Polk Street campus, built on two acres, had a total of twenty-four classrooms and a gymnasium. There was a maximum of six hundred students from very diverse backgrounds. The student body was comprised of approximately 45% Hispanic, 45% Anglo and 10% African American.

Aerial view of the Polk Street campus

The constant dedication of the Saint Mary’s family taught everyone involved the values of education, brotherhood and community since its inception. Unfortunately, the ravages of time and the rapid development of downtown in Phoenix caused Saint Mary’s to halt its growth on their inner-city campus.

In 1988, Saint Mary’s was razed to make room for the Arizona Center. The school moved to its present location at Third Street and Sheridan, renovated existing buildings, and constructed a multi-purpose building to house administration, classrooms, and a cafeteria. Currently, Saint Mary’s has an enrollment of 834 students from many different backgrounds. The student body currently consists of 1.5% Native Americans, 4.3% African Americans, 1.0% Asian Americans, 42.1% Hispanic and 51.1% who have listed themselves as other on their registration list.

Money constraints prevented the school from building a gym; a new facility was estimated to cost the school $1.2 million. With tribute to several of mankind’s greatest attributes: generosity, imagination, perseverance, loyalty, and the highest form of friendship, the construction of the Saint Mary’s gym began. A nearby Catholic high school that been closed, Gerard High School, left behind a prefabricated metal building that had housed a gymnasium. A former graduate of Saint Mary’s was able to contact a contractor who agreed to relocate the steel superstructure. After this first step was completed, volunteers pulled together and began creating a gym from parts of other buildings all over the city. The project cost approximately $400,000. After a generous gift of $100,000 from a charitable trust was matched, St. Mary’s borrowed the remaining $200,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

The flooding of Camelback High School’s gymnasium was another advantage. The school’s athletic program could not afford the time and risk of trying to dry out the maple floor. With the insurance company’s permission, Saint Mary’s took the donated wet wood to dry out in a warehouse. For the lights, scoreboards, and backboards another Phoenix school was soon-to-be demolished and was also a source. The source of 36,000 pounds of tile for the locker rooms and showers was the donation of another destroyed building. The two-story gym was also fortunate to boast an elevator donated by a former graduate. Altogether, the Saint Mary’s family was able to reuse materials to put into the gym, making it recycled. A gymnasium valued at $1.4 million was constructed for approximately $400,000.

After a series of moves and contributions, the Saint Mary's Campus continues to grow on 3rd Street and Sheridan. The history of Saint Mary's is more than a building, or location downtown. Doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, and other leaders of our community have come to call Saint Mary's home. A tradition of excellence has been held for over 80 years and continues on.