St. Mary’s Orphanage and Day School was originally known as the Catholic Male Orphanage (CMO) and located at Murgihatta, Howrah. From 1849 to 1890 it was run by a small band of religious men known as the Calcutta Brothers. When the Irish Christian Brothers arrived in 1890, they were joined by the Calcutta Brothers and continued to run the Orphanage. It was not long before it was decided to shift from these unhealthy and congested surroundings to a large plot of land in Dum Dum, previously gifted to

the Brothers by Archbishop Carew. Accordingly work began on the new building in 1943 only to be disrupted by the shortage of material and funds caused by World War II. A visiting Redemptorist priest heard of the problem and asked the Brothers to offer prayers in honor of Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. He assured them that their prayers would be answered and requested them to name the school after Our Lady. Help did come and that too from an unusual source- The US Army, who were in need of accommodation. They agreed to complete the building, use it to billet their troops and hand it back to the Brothers after the War. Thus, in June 1947 the Orphans from the CMO moved to the new premises known as St. Mary’s Orphanage and Day School run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Fee paying day scholars were admitted to make the project viable.

The institution continued to grow over the years as a residential school, rendering outstanding service to the poor and underprivileged boys of Calcutta, while also imparting quality education to the local population. In 2004 the residential section was discontinued and the school is now run as a day school under the CISCE Board. In 2012 St. Mary’s decided to turn the Plus 2 Commerce Section into co- education and in 2024 opened the nursery section.

Having a large campus, the school is well equipped with football fields, a basketball court, an AI laboratory, a badminton court, a state-of-the-art auditorium and a modern swimming pool. All these, along with a library, computer room, smart-boards, laboratories, other co-curricular facilities and a loyal and dedicated staff make a wholesome environment in which to impart the best of education to the students.

The school continues to help to support outreach programmes. At present there are three projects, running parallel to the Day School, in SMO Campus:

• NIOS class XI and XII: The NIOS project caters to those children who wish to follow alternative schemes of education to prepare them for vocational based job-oriented courses.
• Mary Rice Centre: It is a school for specially-abled children.
• Evening Meal Program: Every evening around 100 elderly and destitute adults and children are given a meal so that they do not go to bed hungry and are assured of at least one meal a day.