School News

Ashley Spitzer Peterson, graduate of St. Mary’s Academy’s class of 1998, can officially mark herself in the “game-changers, move-makers and forces of nature” category. That’s because last winter Ashley was chosen from a pool of over 300 nominees as an award recipient for Portland Business Journal’s 2019 Forty Under 40. The list, recognized for years as an astounding accomplishment, showcases Portland’s most influential professionals, including local CEO’s, founders, directors and presidents, all under the age of forty.

It took seconds for Mya to hear her name announced as Rose Festival Queen, but years Mya spent dreaming of that very moment.

This past June, Mya Brazile ’19 won Portland Rose City Festival Queen among fourteen other nominees from local high schools, making her the sixth student from St. Mary’s Academy to be crowned Queen. “I am happy that I could give St. Mary’s another Queen. Their love and support through all of this has been nothing short of amazing,” Mya said.

With the upcoming school year around the corner, we are excited to welcome a number of new faculty & staff members to the St. Mary’s Academy community.  We have no doubt that their unique talents, perspectives and backgrounds will be a tremendous addition to our team, and we look forward to the positive impact they will have on our current and future students.

Hearns, Executive Director and Director of Coaching at BCSA, along with her colleagues, opened the doors at Bridge City Soccer in 2019 with the goal of creating a soccer program that is fundamentally different than anything else in the marketplace.  “It’s a program just for girls,” she says, “with a focus on player development no matter your current ability or level.  And, for Bridge City, player development does not just equal performance on the field.  We seek to develop the whole person first, and then the player.”

A closer look into the 2019 graduating class by the numbers and a gallery of photos taken at this year's commencement.

166 graduating seniors took the stage on June 1 for the Class of 2019 St. Mary's Academy commencement but it was guest speaker, Mariah Scott, who blew away the crowd with a raw, candid and inspirational speech that will be embedded in the students' memories for years to come.

Read how golf, lacrosse, track & field and tennis ended their seasons and which St. Mary's student-athletes have committed to competing in college.

St. Mary’s Academy had their strongest showing at Portland State University’s 29th Annual Young Historian’s Conference, with eight SMA senior student presenters including the 1st place winner, whose paper analyzed Victor Hugo le Grand’s work and its effectiveness in shaping an unfavorable view of Napolean III, who would be forever defined as “Napoléon le Petit”.

Laughter, connections, support and tears of joy filled the air inside the Oregon Convention Center’s Portland ballroom for St. Mary’s Academy’s 31^st Annual Auction. Towards the end of the evening, St. Mary’s Academy President, Christina Friedhoff, proudly announced the silent and live auction event met the goal of one million dollars.

The stated mission of St Mary’s Academy’s UNITE Day reads “By implementing a day committed to equity and inclusion, we strive to promote cultural relevancy, identify and eliminate microaggressions and discrimination, remind ourselves of the necessity of environmental conservation, and inspire positive change as we refocus the lens of social justice on our own community,” but in the words of senior Madeleine Adriance, UNITE Day student director, UNITE is about telling stories.