Townsville Catholic Education is celebrating 150 years of educating students within the Townsville Diocese with two schools being opened in 1873 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart.  The two schools celebrating the milestone are St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand and St Mary’s Catholic School, Bowen.

The milestone is a time for all to reflect on the past histories of the schools and be thankful of the foresight of those who brought Catholic Education to the Diocese. We are so fortunate that these two schools, St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand and St Mary’s Catholic School, Bowen, continue to thrive in servicing the local community after 150 years.

The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and later the Sisters of Mercy were instrumental in providing education, and their vision for faith based education continues in our school communities today. Since the commencement of the Catholic schooling in Townsville, tens of thousands of students have been educated and Catholic education has grown to be the largest provider of schooling in the Townsville Diocese outside of government schools.

In 2023, the Townsville Diocese has over 14,000 students enrolled in 31 Catholic schools within communities north to Hinchinbrook, east to Palm Island, south to The Whitsundays and west to Mount Isa. Our mission continues to ensure that our schools provide excellent holistic education with Jesus Christ as its foundation and we are proud of the continued growth and opportunities our schools provide students.

St Joseph’s School was founded in February 1873 by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and in 1878 the Sisters of Mercy took over the running of the school. Today St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand has over 360 students from Prep to Year 6.  In July of 1873, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart travelled from Townsville to Bowen and opened St Mary’s Convent School in September that year. St Mary’s Catholic School, Bowen currently has over 200 students from Prep to Year 6.