School News

Winners of this year's awards Mary Brunkow '79, who last fall won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Annie Auxier '77, and former All-American basketball star Karon Howell '85. Secure your spot today and get to know each of the distinguished winners:

Alumna and board member Karis Stoudamire-Phillips ’94 was recently named a Portland Business Journal Woman of Influence. Now a leader at Moda Health, she credits SMA for amplifying her voice and leadership through academics, service, and extracurriculars. A dedicated community advocate and board leader, she encourages students to take risks, get involved, and fully embrace the supportive, empowering environment that defines the SMA experience.

Valentin has hosted a dinner for the Thai festival Loi Krathong for many years as a way to bring family, neighbors, and friends together. This year, for the first time, she's bringing that experience to the 38th Annual St. Mary's Academy Auction, Among the Stars, as an experience attendees can bid on Saturday, April 11th. 

Senior Annie P. '26 quickly found her place at St. Mary’s, drawn to its supportive all-girls environment. She's embraced leadership opportunities across academics, athletics, and mentorship programs, from lacrosse to peer guidance. With aspirations in early childhood education, learn more about her story.

SMA’s largest annual fundraiser brings together the entire community — parents, alumnae, teachers, and cherished friends of SMA — for an unforgettable evening in support of the students and programs that make St. Mary’s a place that has been changing the game for girls for more than 166 years. This year is especially meaningful, led by three alumnae whose daughters are graduating seniors.

St. Mary's Academy senior Olivia Baker was crowned as the school's 2026 Rose Festival Princess in an all-school assembly on Wednesday in the Clark Auditorium on Wednesday, becoming the latest student to represent SMA in a tradition that reaches back to the festival's first year in 1908 when Carrie Lee Chamberlain, an SMA student, was the first Queen of Rosaria.

The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) presented St. Mary’s Academy Executive Athletic Director Anna Maria Lopez ’78 with the inaugural Anna Maria Lopez Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Award on Feb. 4 on National Girls and Women in Sports Day

For more than 40 years, the St. Mary's Academy community has come together for the Christmas Families program — a service drive that partners TAs (SMA's homerooms) with families in need to support their Christmas needs. The project brings the themes of the Advent season to life: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and aligns with SMA's Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary core value of service to the marginalized, to women, and to children. In 2025, Christmas Families Program served 137 individuals across 31 families in the Greater Portland Area.