About

St. Mary’s Academy, Pasay is a Filipino, Catholic and Ignacian Marian school.

Founded in 1922 as the Escuela Catolica de Pasay. It was situated in front of the Sta. Clara Parish Church and was managed by a parish priest, Rev. lgmidio Trinidad. It was housed in an old Spanish building which also served as the convent. The Escuela offered only primary education to young children.

A turnover of parish priest prompted the parish to ask help in managing the school. Then Archbishop of Manila, Most Rev. Michael O'Doherty, requested for help from the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) the first pontifical congregation for women in the Philippines. In 1939, the RVM sisters took over the Escuela and later changed its name to St. Mary’s Academy to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mo. Ma. Josefa Avendaño became the school's first Superior.

Like most schools which ceased to operate at the outbreak of World War Il on December 8, 1941, St. Mary’s Academy in Pasay (SMA) was among the first schools to resume classes after the liberation on July 1, 1945. On March 1946, the Elementary course was granted government recognition followed by the General Secondary Course a year after. Ten (10) students became the first batch of high school graduates of SMA in 1947. (Read more)