Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) Maryhill Girls High School is a national girls’ secondary school located in Thika, Kiambu County. The school traces its roots to 1933 when the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) founded it.
MSOLA is a congregation of Catholic nuns commonly known as the White Sisters, founded much earlier in 1869 in Algiers by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, the Archbishop of Algiers.
He envisioned a female-led missionary effort that would minister to African women with deep cultural understanding and respect.
These nuns, dressed in white garments resembling local attire, were nicknamed the White Sisters and became known for integrating into local communities — learning languages, observing customs, and engaging directly with the people.
In 1907, six White Sisters arrived in Mombasa at the request of Bishop Allgeyer, the then Apostolic Vicar of Zanzibar.
They were assigned to establish their first mission in Thika District, present-day Kiambu County, where they bought land, planted coffee and fruit trees to finance their operations, and began outreach through home visits, catechism teaching, and basic healthcare.
They also established a maternity, dispensary, orphanage, and a school, laying the foundation for their broader educational mission in Kenya.
In the early 20th century, colonial Kenya’s education system was racially segregated. While schools existed for Africans, Europeans, and Asians, mixed-race children were often excluded from all categories due to prevailing social prejudices.
The White Sisters recognized this gap and in 1933, established Maryhill Girls High School to cater specifically to these marginalized children.
Maryhill Girls history
The school was established in the former Thika District, on a hill that inspired part of its name, while the other half paid homage to Mary, the mother of Jesus
It began as a boarding school for mixed-race girls, offering them a rare opportunity for education and refuge in an otherwise hostile society.
Maryhill Girls was not alone in the efforts by the Sisters. MSOLA also played a role in founding other learning institutions such as Star of the Sea School, Marycliff Primary, and Mama Ngina Secondary in Mombasa, among others across the country.
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With Kenya’s independence in 1963, racial segregation in education was dismantled. Maryhill Girls underwent a significant transformation, opening its doors to African students and gaining a reputation for academic excellence and strict discipline grounded in Catholic values.
In 1976, the White Sisters formally handed over the administration of the school to the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi, a local congregation also founded under the guidance of MSOLA.
The first African headmistress, Miss Rose Wangui took over the running of the school from Missionary Sisters in 1978.
Under Kenyan leadership, the school continued to thrive. By 1989, Maryhill had fully transitioned to the national 8-4-4 system of education, presenting its first candidates that year.
Performance
Today, Maryhill Girls stands as one of Kenya’s most respected girls’ secondary schools, with a student population exceeding 1,400.
It has consistently posted strong performance in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) national examinations and continues to uphold the legacy of its founders: educating, nurturing, and empowering girls with discipline, dignity, and purpose.
In the 2024 KCSE, the school had 587 candidates, with 98% achieving the minimum university entry grade under full government sponsorship.
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80 students scored a straight A, while 181 scored an A-. Additionally, 139 students attained a B+, 111 scored a B, while 37 managed a B-.
32 students scored a C+, 5 scored a C, and the lowest grade recorded was a C-, obtained by two students.
The school’s impressive performance saw the 2023 candidates achieve a mean score of 10.051, an improvement from the 9.4423 mean score recorded by the 2023 KCSE candidates.
School Fees
The government had earlier set a directive specifying the highest amount parents should pay in annual school fees.
According to guidelines introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2020, Kenya’s 103 national schools were divided into four clusters.
Maryhill Girls High School was categorized under Cluster Three (III), with the recommended annual fee limit set at about Ksh75,798.
The actual fees may, however, differ slightly from one school to another due to extra charges imposed by individual institutions for items like uniforms, motivation programs, or co-curricular activities.
Location and contacts
The school is located in Thika along the Thika – Mang’u Road, Kiambu County.
In case you have any complaints, queries, or comments, you can reach the institution’s administration through the contacts below.
Mobile phone number: +254 704983017
Email address: [email protected]
Postal address: P. O. Box 9-0100, Thika
Official website: olmcmaryhillgirls.com
Maryhill Girls KNEC code: 11200006
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