St Mary's College is a Catholic co-educational secondary school in Gunnedah, a town of population 10 000 in North-West NSW. The College strives to provide a caring and stimulating environment for a holistic education of high quality, in the Catholic and Mercy traditions. The core values of the school are respect for oneself and respect for others. The school achieves its mission by the provision of a broad academic curriculum, complemented by a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. The College was established in 1879 and maintains its links to the community of Mercy Sisters who founded it. Strong links are also maintained with the parish of St Joseph in Gunnedah. With a student population of about 350, the staff members know all students well and maintain strong contact with parents. Many parents are actively involved in supporting the College through the Parents and Friends Association and the College Board while others provide voluntary assistance in the canteen, with sporting teams or at sporting events. This school is part of a system of schools in the Catholic Diocese of Armidale. The Catholic Schools Office in Armidale is the administrative and service office for this system. The Catholic Schools Office acts as a central office for the receipt of Government recurrent and capital grants and for the payment of staff salaries and related costs. The recurrent revenues and costs, including the general administrative costs of the office, are apportioned to individual schools on the basis of relative need. The land and buildings that the school occupies are owned by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church, Diocese of Armidale. The school is responsible for setting and collecting its own school fees. The financial information presented on this site is drawn from independently audited accounts. Over the past two years, Australian Government grants under the Building the Education Revolution program have allowed the College to completely refurbish its Science area, build a Language Laboratory, a large COLA..