On 31 December 1887, the Bishop of Sandhurst, Most Reverend Dr. Crane OBS blessed the new primary school in St Mary’s Parish. This school was built on the site of the present parish hall and approximately forty children were in attendance in 1889.
On 23rd November 1919, the red-brick St Mary’s School was erected along Anstruther Street. It consisted of five classrooms and was blessed by the Bishop of Sandhurst, Most Reverend Dr McCarthy DD.
The school continued until 1963 when three additional classrooms and a staffroom were added and ready for use at the beginning of the 1964 school year. At this particular time, the primary school children from St Joseph’s College were transferred to St Mary’s and St Joseph’s became a secondary school only.
Two additional classrooms were constructed in 1970, and another classroom and administration area in 1975, the centenary year of the Parish. Up until 1963 the teaching staff at St Mary’s consisted solely of four Brigidine Sisters, however by 1975 there were nine lay teachers and two nuns on staff.
The refurbishment of the whole school in 1996 provided new facilities of which St Mary’s was very proud. In the year 2000, an adjoining building, the Wesley Church, was purchased and converted to classroom areas, accommodating four classes. Additional enrolments in 2004 required the purchase of a relocatable classroom to be added to the existing school buildings.
After many years of planning and following the sale of the Anstruther Street site, a new school was constructed for St Mary’s during 2008. At the beginning of the 2009 school year, St Mary’s was relocated to Bridlington Avenue Echuca West. The history of St Mary’s has begun a new chapter.