Our History

In August, the steamer Thompson arrives in Breton Bay carrying Mother Helena, Sister Rosanne, Sister Gregorita, Sister Bertilla, and Sister Madeline Sharkey. In September, St. Mary’s Academy opens as a coeducational, K-12 boarding school with 17 pupils, two of whom are boarders. During the first year, the number of pupils increases to 33.

The Academy now has six boarders, and a windmill is installed for hot running water.

The first graduation exercises of St. Mary’s Academy are held in June. There are two graduates: May Greenwell and Whittie Burch.

Repairing the century-old convent is no longer practical, and in March it is torn down. On Nov. 21, a new chapel and building are dedicated.

The Leonard Hall School is founded by the Xaverian Brothers with Brother Constantine McGuiness as the director. Brother Julian Ryan, author of “Men and Deeds,” writes, “The primary object of Leonard Hall was to establish an agricultural school in order that the boys of the county might receive scientific instruction in farming. ... At the same time, they would receive a liberal education that would enable them to appreciate the finer things of life.”

Boys now attend the Academy for grades 1-4 and Leonard Hall for grades 5-12.

Leonard Hall will remain under the control of the Brothers until 1972.

The Xaverian Brothers purchased over 100 acres along Breton Bay from Enoch Abell, known as the Willie Abell Estate. At first, the land was used as a camp for boys, Camp Calvert. Young men flocked from the cities to spend a few weeks of their summer vacations at Camp Calvert.

The Academy continues to grow as a coeducational boarding and day school for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Leonard Hall's high school closes, and in September, male students return to the Academy.

The burgeoning population of St. Mary’s County and Southern Maryland means increased enrollment for the Academy. The current school is too small, and Bishop John Michael McNamara laid the cornerstone for a new school building in March.

In April, the new Academy building is dedicated.

Brother John Chrysostom Killian converts Leonard Hall into a boarding grammar school with a naval training component.

During World War II, with the rationing and shortage of gas and other scarce resources, school social activities and athletic games were curtailed.

The Academy opens a new dormitory, convent and chapel.

The Brothers' St. Joseph Juniorate in Peabody, Massachusetts, closes, and the aspirants are moved to Leonardtown, where Brother Lambert Bents begins construction for a juniorate and Ryken High School on the grounds of Camp Calvert.

The following brothers are assigned to the school and juniorate: Walter, Augustus, Placidus, Borromeo (who would later become a principal), Joseph Gerard, Pius, Hugo, Basil, Gabril and Scott.

According to Brother James Kelly, “The early days at Ryken were enough to make pioneers tremble. The brothers and aspirants lived at Camp Calvert during the first year of the school until they were driven out by the winter’s cold and broken water pipes. The aspirants decamped to Xaverian College (in Silver Spring), and the faculty of Ryken moved to Leonard Hall while they continued to teach the ‘day-hops’ and run the juniorate at Ryken.”

In his journal, Brother Lambert describes the endless discomfort from coldness, dampness and perpetual mud. He writes that “relief from this discomfort was offered by Captain Neblett, USN, who offered athletic and shower facilities at the naval base, 12 miles away. ... Lester Mattingly supplied us with wood for the stoves.”

A steel strike soon halts construction, and Brother Lambert faces the challenge of having students, but no school. Brother Hilaire, headmaster of Leonard Hall, brings good news. Father Morgan Downey, S.J., pastor of St. Aloysius Church in Leonardtown, offers the use of the new Father Andrew White school to the brothers. The young men will attend classes at the elementary school from 3-7 p.m., but getting them there becomes a problem. The St. Mary's County Commissioners will only supply transportation for a regular school day, not for one beginning at 3 p.m. Parents quickly organize bus transportation and then subsidize it at a cost of almost $300 per month.

The basketball team practices at 8 p.m. at the Patuxent River Naval Base. Home games are played at Father Andrew White. Because the team travels so much, the players are dubbed “Knights of the Road.” The name sticks and is later shortened to “Knights.”

In February, Ryken High School opens, even though work is still being completed on the building, such as installing doors.

Brother Lambert writes, “Finally on February 25, 1957, a Monday, school started at Ryken High School from 9 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. While construction continued on that day, the school opened with classrooms. There was no cafeteria, no gym, no office, no faculty room and no science lab, as yet. The hallway is used as a lunch room with the food being served by Brother Scott and me. Despite all the inconvenience, it is a blessing to get on a regular schedule.”

Named for Theodore James Ryken, founder of the Xaverian order, the school serves as a juniorate for those with vocations to the Xaverian Brothers as well as a high school for young men in Southern Maryland. All of the boys from the Academy are transferred to Ryken.

RHS is dedicated in June, and 23 students are members of the first graduating class. His Excellency, The Most Reverend Patrick A. O’Boyle, Archbishop of Washington, presides.

The juniorate and boarding facilities at Ryken close and, with Brother Cornelius Hubbuch as principal, Ryken becomes a day school.

At Ryken High School, all classes are held in Paschal Hall, named in memory of Brother Paschal (Thomas S. Raley), who died at the age of 18 only weeks after receiving his habit as a Xaverian Brother.

Students were forbidden to go to the two buildings on the lower campus, where the brothers and aspiring brothers lived. Rupert Hall housed the young men of college age who were studying to become brothers.

However, with boarding facilities closing and day-student enrollment rising, the brothers later turned Rupert Hall into classrooms and facilities to accommodate more students.

Enrollment keeps rising at Ryken, and the brothers renovate Xavier Hall for classroom space and offices.

SMA and RHS continue to support each other and collaborate on sports programs, theatre and music productions, dances, festivals, community events and academic instruction.

The Academy closes its boarding facility.

Declining enrollments and declining numbers of Sisters of Charity and Xaverian Brothers lead St. Mary's Academy and Ryken High School to begin talks about combining the two schools.

The newly formed high school – St. Mary’s Ryken – opens in September on the grounds of the former Ryken High School. Brother Matthew Burke is the first principal of St. Mary's Ryken.

The St. Mary's Academy grounds become home to the College of Southern Maryland.

The first class of St. Mary’s Ryken graduates. A new graduate described the merger: “To our surprise, within the first three months of school, we (former Academy and Ryken students) really began to blend in well, to become one. ... Instead of the competition we anticipated in the beginning, we began working together. ... Every day we became closer and closer until we became one happy class.”

Rupert Hall undergoes interior and exterior renovations.

Computer labs are installed.

The performing arts building, Romuald Hall, is constructed. The building is named after Brother Romuald Stuedle, an Xaverian Brother for over 50 years, known for his dedication to education, especially at St. Mary's Ryken where he taught and coached for 30 years. The building houses a 320-seat theatre, a media center, and the History Department.

The cafeteria is finished and is dedicated as Alumni Hall.

Refurbishments to the exterior of Paschal Hall and its classrooms are completed.

The lower fields and tennis courts are completed and dedicated.

The building known as the Brothers’ House is refurbished and dedicated to Brother Lambert Bents. It is now known as Lambert Hall and houses the business office downstairs and living quarters for brothers upstairs.

The lower athletic fields are renovated, and four tennis courts are built to accommodate the expanding athletics program.

The library in Rupert Hall is renovated to become the Chapel of Charity in honor of the Sisters of Charity and in memory of Sister Sara Ann Abell, Sister Alberta Abell and Sister Pauline Abell. The dedication ceremony is held on May 8.

The gym in Paschal Hall is renovated.

St. Mary’s Ryken celebrates its 25th anniversary.

The new boathouse is dedicated in memory of Father Paul S. Tipton, S.J. In June, construction begins on a new stadium with a turf field and track.

The SMR stadium is completed. There is seating for 1,000 spectators, a state-of-the-art turf field and a six-lane track.

The lower level of Romuald Hall is finished and houses practice spaces for the band, orchestra and chorus.

St. Mary's Ryken celebrates its 30th anniversary.

The Garden of Remembrance is dedicated in June.

The new Greene Murphy Campus Ministry Center is dedicated on Dec. 19 in honor of Capt. and Mrs. Patrick Murphy and in memory of their parents.

The Donnie Williams Center, a 48,000-square-foot modern, spacious facility for many types of school, community, spiritual, and sporting events, was completed. A member of the Ryken High School Class of 1971, Donnie Williams attributed much of his success to the values and discipline the Xaverian Brothers taught him. Donnie passed away in May 2012 and established the Donnie Williams Foundation so that children would have the opportunities in life that he did not have growing up – places to come together, in formal and informal settings, to participate in activities after school.

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The Chapel of Charity underwent a comprehensive renovation. The redesign embraces the school’s heritage by displaying symbols of the Sisters of Charity and the Xaverian Brothers, highlighting the school’s historical and spiritual foundations. The classical, simple aesthetic is ideal for worship, prayer and private meditation. Enhancements include professional oil paintings above the new altar of Christ the Teacher, St. Francis Xavier, Theodore Ryken, Mother Catherine Spalding and St. Therese of Lisieux; a new altar of repose; ambo; crucifix; statues; tabernacle; entry and sacristy doors; lighting; tile flooring; and choir loft railing. Two confessionals were added in the back of the chapel.

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A new turf field is installed in the MIL Family Stadium.