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.
History
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'.
Previous Principals
The College has seen 10 principals since its foundation, 7 of which were Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart:
Named after the town north of Sydney, where the Sisters of St Joseph opened an orphanage for street children in 1887.
McCORMACK (green)
Named after 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.
SOLOMON (red)
Named after Emmanuel Solomon, a wealthy Jewish philanthropist who generously supported the poor and disadvantaged.
CAMERON (orange)
Named after Mary MacKillop's relatives, the Cameron's, whom she was governess for when she moved to Penola at the age of 18.
PROVIDENCE (purple)
During the early years of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart's work across Australia, the Sisters established a number of Houses of Providence. These houses served as a refuge for young women and children who did not have access to a safe home or food.
Homerooms
There are seven homerooms at junior levels 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. In the senior year levels students are divided into homerooms based on their house colour, then divided into three groups, such as Cameron 1, Cameron 2, and Cameron 3.
Curriculum
Mount St Joseph Girls' College has a various selection of subjects from years 7–12 which include the following:
In 2019, Mount St. Joseph Girls' College has approximately 960 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 .
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.
