Motto Virtue Courage Principal Ms. Kate Dishon Number of students 920 Colors White, Navy Blue | Established 1964 Phone +61 3 9998 7238 Founded 1964 | |
Type Secondary, Single-sex, Day school Denomination Roman Catholic, Josephites Employees approximately $4,000 per year (including MacBook laptop & accessories) Address 133 Maidstone Street, Altona VIC 3018, Australia Similar Emmanuel College, Williamst High School, Westbour Grammar School, Suzanne Cory High School, Werribee Secondary College | ||
Mount St. Joseph Girls' College is a Catholic Girls College located in Maidstone Street, Altona, Victoria, Australia. Mount St. Joseph is one of few schools in Australia that is a Josephite college, founded by the Josephite Order in 1964. There is a strong emphasis on pastoral care, and developing the whole individual.
Contents
Beginnings
In the early 1960s, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart made plans for a school for young women in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The school was built in Altona West and opened in February 1964.
The logo at Mount St Joseph Girls' College is a white lily, and the College motto is 'Virtue Courage'. This school is now a profound and elite ladies school in Melbourne, which strives to keep up its reputation. Pupils at Mount St. Joseph Girls' College take pride in their uniform (light blue dress and navy blazer) for being well dressed.
Sport
There are 4 house colours for sport days and events which are:
Named after the town in South Australia where Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods established the order of the Sisters of St Joseph and the first Josephite school.
Named after the town north of Sydney, where the Sisters of St Joseph opened an orphanage for street children in 1887.
Named after Sr Irene McCormack who worked in the village of Huasihuasi, Peru and was fatally shot by members of a guerilla rebel group on May 21, 1991.
Named after Emmanuel Solomon, a wealthy Jewish philanthropist who generously supported the poor and disadvantaged.
There are seven homerooms into which the students are divided, in each year level; Anne, Catherine, Francis, Joseph, Therese, Veronica & Ignatius. These homerooms are named after saints, as this is a Catholic school.
Mount St Joseph Girls' College has a various selection of subjects from year 7-12 which include the following: Accounting, Art, Biology, Business Management, Chemistry, Drama, English, English Language, English Literature, Food and Technology, French, Further Mathematics, Health & Human Development, Humanities, Information Technology, International Studies, Italian, Japanese, Religion and Society, Legal Studies, Maths Methods, Media, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology, Specialist Maths, Text & Traditions, Textiles & Design Multimedia, Visual Communications, and much more.
Size and future
Mount St. Joseph Girls' College currently has approximately 1000 students and over 100 staff, and maintains steady numbers through drawing from Catholic feeder schools throughout Melbourne, which stretches from Footscray and Yarraville to the east and city areas such as: Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Altona Meadows, Altona and Werribee in the west. There are usually waiting lists for enrolment to the school.
MSJ has made a lot of changes in the past years including a new gymnasium, a Performing Arts Centre for drama and music, a new year 7 and 8 block, an athletics track, and a new Science and Technology Centre.
Mount St. Joseph Girls' College has a strong emphasis on community, and as such, encourages past students to keep in contact through the Alumni program.
Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)
Mount St. Joseph Girls' College offers a full range of VCE subjects. The students statistically, tend to do well in the VCE when compared to other schools in the state.
Notable Alumna
Lee-Anne Hurley (1976-1980)