Our School History
Our history goes back to 1835 when Sr. Mary Euphrasia founded the Order of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Angers, France. The Singapore story unfolds with the arrival of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Singapore in December 1939. Mother Liguori Burke and Sr. Alphonsus (Madras) arrived in Singapore from Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). They were met by His Lordship Rt. Rev. A Dewals D.D. Bishop of Malacca and his Vicar General Rt. Rev. M. Olcomendy.
29th January 1940 saw the arrival of two more sisters, Sr. Dympna (Macau) and Sr. Colombo from Kandy, Sri Lanka. The sisters stayed temporarily at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus at Victoria Street while a house for them at 8th Mile, Ponggol Road was being repaired and renovated.
On the 1st of Febrauary 1940, the first convent of the Religious Order of the Good Shepherd Sisters (RGS) was blessed by Bishop A. Devals. Present also were his Vicar General, Mgsr M. Olcomendy, the Infant Jesus Sisters, the Litter Sisters of the Poor and the Conossian Sisters.
Led by Mother Liguori, the Good Shepherd Sisters opened their doors to women and girls who were troubled or abused and in need of healing and reconciliation. As the numbers grew, there was a need to secure a larger premises. However, their work was disrupted by the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942. The sisters were interned in Bahau, Malaysia during the Japanese occupation. They returned after the war in 1945 and moved into a large rented house on Kampong Java Road. In November 1947, the Kampong Java Kindergarten was opened with six pupils registered. Responding to the need for English medium schools for girls, a primary school soon followed at the Kampong Java site.
On October 31, 1947, the cherished dreams of the sisters were realized when the lease to Crown Land on Thomson Road (18 acres) was signed. Marymount Convent was officially declared open by Sir Graham Gimson, Governer of Singapore on 29th May 1950.
Fired by her vision and desire to provide an all round quality education for girls, Mother Liguori worked with Dr. Ee Peng Liang to build Marymount Convent School. Construction work on the school started in December 1956. The School was officially opened in March 1958, with Sr. Maurice O’Neil as the first principal. It was a full school complete with boarding facilities.
Through the years, many girls have graduated as women of knowledge, integrity and dignity to serve as useful members of society.
However, in 1992, after much discernment, the sisters made a decision to phase out the small secondary section, which was finally in 1995. Marymount Convent School became a solely Primary School.
The school embarked on a rebuilding programme in December of 1996. It moved to a holding premises at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 for two and a half years. Marymount Convent School moved back to its original tranquil site with a brand new address – 20 Marymount Road on 3rd June 1999. The new school building cost approximately S$15.8 million and is equipped with information technology and state of the art facilities.
