St. Mary's High School (Annapolis, Maryland)

Administration

As of 2025, the leadership team includes High School Principal Melissa Nisbett and Elementary Principal Megan Back.

History

St. Mary's High School is co-located with its affiliated parish church St. Mary's Church and elementary school. The church and parish itself date back to 1853 with the arrival of the Redemptorists in Baltimore. St. Mary's School (elementary) was founded in 1862 and the high school was added in 1946.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 479 students enrolled in 2017-2018 was:

• Native American/Alaskan - 0.2%
• Asian/Pacific islanders - 1.4%
• African American - 3%
• Hispanic - 3.2%
• White - 85.1%
• Multiracial - 7%

Campus features

The school is located in downtown Annapolis on Duke of Gloucester Street. It is connected by a hallway and outdoor walkway with St. Mary's Elementary School, with whom it also shares a library building, and shares its grounds with St. Mary's Church as well as the Charles Carroll House, the historic home of Charles Carroll of Annapolis. Originally, the School Sisters of Notre Dame maintained a convent on the property; that building has since been transformed primarily into a library and computer labs. Classrooms and hallways are based on a traditional corridor basis (A, B, and C), with lockers located in each along the walls. The gymnasium is named after C. Mason "Daffy" Russell, a longtime coach at St. Mary's.

Being located in a dense, urban area and surrounded by historic properties, the school does not have athletic fields of its own on campus. Historically, the school has utilized practice facilities at Bates Middle School and Germantown Elementary School for practices and used various sites in the area for home games. In 2007, St. Mary's gained its own home field by building the St. Mary's Field at St. John Neumann Church on Bestgate Road, approximately 2 miles from campus.

Academics

St. Mary's offers AP and Honors classes for advanced students. In 2016, St. Mary's immersed their student body and faculty with a 1:1 iPad program. A program offered at the high school is their St. Isidore Cyber Program, designated for students interested in a STEM-based program of study and internship, designed to develop student proficiency and exploration in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

Student life

The school newspaper is The Crabnet, and St. Mary's has a total of 25 clubs, including a sailing team, Model UN, and a variety of others. Campus ministry is a big component of student life. Each year, students must attend a retreat. Their senior year, the students participated in Kairos.

Athletics

The school's main rival is the Severn School. They play lacrosse in a match called "Battle Lax" and football in a game called "The River Classic."

St. Mary's participates in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), primarily in boy's athletics, and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM), primarily in girl's athletics. The school fields the following sports:

Fall

Cross Country (Varsity - Boys), Cross Country (Varsity - Girls), Field Hockey (Junior Varsity & Varsity - Girls), Football (JV & Varsity - Boys), Soccer (JV & Varsity - Boys), Soccer (JV & Varsity - Girls), Volleyball (JV & Varsity - Girls).

Winter

Basketball (JV & Varsity - Boys), Basketball (JV & Varsity - Girls), Ice Hockey (Varsity - Boys), Swimming (Varsity - Boys), Swimming (Varsity - Girls), Wrestling (Varsity - Boys).

Spring

Baseball (JV & Varsity - Boys), Lacrosse (Freshman/Sophomore, JV, & Varsity - Boys), Lacrosse (FR/SO, JV, & Varsity - Girls), Golf (Varsity - Boys & Girls), Tennis (Varsity - Boys & Girls), Track (Varsity Boys), Track (Varsity Girls).

Notable alumni

• Robert C. Baldwin, Maryland Delegate
• Michael E. Busch, former Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates
• Chuck Bresnahan, former defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Henry Ciccarone, Hall of Fame lacrosse coach for Johns Hopkins
• John Dorsey, NFL executive and former player
• Chris Garrity, professional lacrosse player
• Joshua Grannell, actor, filmmaker, and drag queen known as Peaches Christ
• Terry Hutchinson, sailor
• Peter Oakley, Senator from Maryland

References

References

1. (July 30, 2025). "Melissa Nisbett named St. Mary’s High School principal". Capital Gazette.
2. "Senior Leadership – St. Mary's Parish & School".
3. "St. Mary's Annapolis - High School - A Private Catholic School". stmarysannapolis.org.
4. "AdvancED - Institution Summary". advanc-ed.org.
5. "Parish History – 20th and 21st Centuries". stmaryschurch.org.
6. "Search for Private Schools - School Detail for St Marys High School". ed.gov.
7. "St. Mary's Annapolis - High School - A Private Catholic School". stmarysannapolis.org.
8. "Senior Leadership – St. Mary's Parish & School".
9. "St. Mary's Annapolis {{!}} Curriculum".
10. "St. Mary's Annapolis - Clubs & Activities". stmarysannapolis.org.
11. (2019-04-08). "Kairos (retreat)". Wikipedia.
12. "St. Mary's Annapolis - Sarah Dewitt, Capital Athlete of the Week". St. Mary's Roman Catholic Congregation.
13. (1 November 2015). "23rd annual River Classic". Capital Gazette.
14. "Overview". St. Mary's Annapolis.
15. "St. Mary's Annapolis - Sports". stmarysannapolis.org.
16. Sragow, Michael. (August 20, 2010). "Hometown boy Joshua Grannell makes 'Evil'". [[The Baltimore Sun]].