History Mt Maria College
Although Mt Maria College - Mitchelton and Mt Maria College - Enoggera have shared the same namesake for a little over a decade, it was not always so. The history of both sites is long and rich.
Initially set up in 1930 by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the site of Mt Maria, Mitchelton was made a home for ‘wayward’ girls. In the 1950s and 60s, a legend that still exists today began to grow, surrounding the supernatural presence of ‘Theresa’ the convent ghost. By this time, there were up to 60 girls in residence, some as young as 12 years of age.
By the early 1970s changing government and societal attitudes as well as financial problems saw the closure of the Convent as a home. However, the laundry managed by the Sisters remained on the site for another eight years.
In 1970, Marcellin College was established at Enoggera as a Marist School for Boys in Years 5, 6, 7. Over the following six years, enrolment numbers grew and the first Year 12 class at Enoggera graduated in 1976.
Two years later due to the rapid growth of Marcellin College and nearby girls’ college, St Benedict’s at Wilston, Brisbane Catholic Education purchased the Mt Maria site at Mitchelton. Named Mt Maria Senior College in 1978, the Mitchelton site for coeducational senior secondary schooling was administered by the Marist Brothers until 1993 when the first lay principal was appointed.
Over the years, Marcellin College phased out its primary schooling and was at one point a school for year 8-10 boys, before female junior secondary students joined the college from St Benedict’s. This amalgamation of the two schools led to the renaming of the Enoggera site to Mt Maria Junior Secondary College, later shortened to Mt Maria College so as not to be mistaken as a primary school campus. In 2005, planning went ahead in preparation for the amalgamating of both Mt Maria - Mitchelton (senior college) and Mt Maria - Enoggera (junior college) to take place in January 2006.
The two colleges form one combined Catholic coeducational school, using both campuses and allowing for greater strength in both educational and pastoral aspects for students. The new Mt Maria College is united under one principal, with the support of a single college.