Maryknoll Fathers' School is an aided primary and secondary school, located in Tai Hang Tung District in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Classes are taught in Cantonese in the primary school and in English in the secondary school.
History
In the 1960s, large numbers of immigrants came to Hong Kong from mainland China. Wooden shacks covered the hills of Kowloon, and fires, landslides and epidemics threatened the inhabitants of those shacks. In 1953, a big fire in Shek Kip Mei left fifty-three thousand homeless. The Government began to focus on the provision of public services such as safe housing, medical care and education. Fr. Peter A. Reilly, a Catholic priest of the Maryknoll Fathers, came to Hong Kong in 1952. He had been a missionary in Wuchow, Kwangsi, since 1941, but alongside other missionaries had been expelled from China when the Communists came to power in 1952. Fr. Reilly set up a mission to serve the poor in a small wooden hut in Kowloontsai, where thousands of refugees lived. He set aside a study room and hired teachers to educate the children of the area. Fr. Reilly applied to the Government for permission to build a subsidised school. To his happy surprise, the Government granted permission not only for him to build the primary school he had hoped for, but also to build a subsidised secondary school, the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Fr. Reilly sought the help of Mrs. Tong Yu Sheung Woon, then headmistress of Yan Pak School, to find students and teachers for the school. The school was built next to the nullah after which Tai Hung Tung is named. On 26 September 1957, Rt. Rev. Bishop Lawrence Bianchi and Governor Sir Alexander Grantham presided over the official opening and blessing of the school. Fr. Reilly became the school's first supervisor, and Mrs. Tong its first principal. In 1959, the secondary section produced its first graduates, who achieved excellent results. Many students also received the gift of faith and God's call. Encouraged by these successes and by the need to provide education for the children in the district, the Maryknoll Fathers applied to the Education Department for an expansion of the school by the acquisition of a site behind it. The request was approved. On 17 February 1966, Rt. Rev. Bishop Frederick Donaghy blessed the New Wing, which provided space for a library, twelve new classrooms, improved science facilities and a hall that could seat five hundred. In January 2009, the primary section moved to a new campus at 11 Hoi Lai Street, Sham Shui Po. It became a full-day school in February that year. Fr. Reilly served as supervisor for the rest of his life. He died in St Teresa's Hospital in 1994. Fr. John Geitner took up the post from 1995 to 2011, followed by Fr. Michael Sloboda from 2011 until 2017. Ms. Agnes Garman Yeh is the current supervisor. Mrs. Tong Yu Sheung Woon died in November 2005 in Toronto, Canada, at the age of 94. Currently, the principal of the secondary school is Mr. Ho Lik Sang and the principal of the primary school is Mrs. Ng Wai Man.
Achievements
In 2008, two students of the school, Lau Tak Kin and Lau Tak Shing, were awarded second place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for their invention of an "anti-bump lock" that could counter bump keys. Two minor planets were named in their honour. In 2014, another student, Kan Wing Yi, was awarded second place in the Intel ISEF for her invention of biodegradable bandages. A minor planet was named in her honour.
Alumni Relations
The first official alumni unit is the Maryknoll Fathers' School Peer Counsellors Alumni, established in 1996, which aims to maintain contacts for ex-peer counsellors and mentors of the student mentoring scheme held by the counselling department. The MFSPCA holds activities such as Christmas Snowball, summer outings and a pen-pal scheme for its members. In 2005, Maryknoll Fathers' School Alumni Ltd, the official alumni unit for all graduates, was established. Currently the lifetime membership is HKD$1000, alternatively members can pay an annual fee of HKD$50. The alumni unit has a very active unofficial Vancouver chapter. The annual Watermelon Cup, held just after final exam in the summer, is a famous activity for graduates to compete in with current MFS students.
