[5][6] It was founded by the Marist Sisters,[7] a congregation or order of Roman Catholic women started in France during the early 19th century by Jeanne-Marie Chavoin and Jean-Claude Colin.

[12] The boarding school closed in 1978 due to a lack of staff, and the College was gifted by the Marist Sisters of New Zealand to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland in 2001.

[14][15][16] In June 2020, teachers at Marist College took down some of the posters placed by students to promote the Black Lives Matter movement.

[20] The Catholic Diocese of Auckland, which owns Marist College, said it would mediate a meeting with students who have raised issues.

[22] Marist College has daily prayers, regular celebrations of the sacrament of the Eucharist and formal study of a religious education programme.

[4] Metro Magazine 2021 ranked Marist College as Auckland’s top performing school in Mathematics Level 1.

[24] In 2021, Marist College Science department junior programme was published by Te Ihuwaka / Education Evaluation Centre (ERO) as a best practice school.