St. Mary's School

"St."

Mary's School, affectionately known as "Saints," is a private Roman Catholic day school situated in Nairobi, Kenya, offering boys a rigorous academic environment grounded in values of faith, integrity, and intellectual excellence. Administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, the school operates under the guiding motto "Bonitas, Disciplina, Scientia" — Latin for "Goodness, Discipline, Knowledge" — a phrase that speaks directly to the school's holistic vision of education. For families seeking a school where academic achievement is pursued alongside strong moral formation, St. Mary's presents a compelling option in Nairobi's educational landscape. Founded in 1982, St. Mary's has built a well-established reputation over more than four decades as one of Nairobi's respected institutions for boys' education. The school operates as a primary and secondary day school, meaning students benefit from continuity of education and community across their formative years, all within a familiar and consistent institutional culture. Academically, St. Mary's offers a notably broad range of certification pathways, which is one of its most distinctive features. Students can pursue the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), situating the school firmly within the national curriculum framework. Alongside these, the school offers the Cambridge IGCSE, providing an internationally recognized qualification that serves students who may continue their education abroad. At the most advanced level, St. Mary's offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), one of the world's most rigorous and globally portable pre-university qualifications. This layered academic offering means that families — whether locally rooted or internationally mobile — can find a pathway that suits their children's longer-term educational goals. Of particular note for families of daughters: while St. Mary's is primarily a boys' school, the school opens its doors to female students specifically at the IB Diploma Programme level. This makes the school a meaningful option for families with older teenage daughters who are seeking the intellectual challenge and global recognition of the IB Diploma within an established Nairobi institution. All instruction at St. Mary's is conducted in English, which makes the school accessible and practical for expatriate and internationally relocating families who are arriving from English-speaking countries or from international school environments worldwide. The school's Catholic identity, administered directly under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, will resonate with families of Catholic faith who are looking for a school where spiritual and ethical values are woven into daily school life rather than treated as an afterthought. At the same time, the breadth of the academic offering — spanning national Kenyan curricula through to internationally recognized qualifications — reflects an institution that is outward-looking and attentive to the diverse ambitions of its student body. For relocating professionals and expat families settling in Nairobi, St. Mary's School offers a reassuring combination of academic credibility, values-driven education, and the practical flexibility of internationally recognized qualifications, all within one of East Africa's most dynamic capital cities.