[10] St. Mary's Ryken provides education for almost 700 students in grades 9-12 and is the only Catholic high school affiliated with the Archdiocese of Washington in the three Southern Maryland counties.
The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth opened St. Mary's Academy (SMA) in 1885 on the grounds of the property known as Rose Hill in Leonardtown.
Mrs. Richard H. Miles bequeathed the property to Father Charles Jenkins, S.J., with the intent that it be used by "a religious order to conduct a Catholic school."
The burgeoning population of St. Mary's County and Southern Maryland soon rendered the academy too small and a new school building was erected in 1936.
Eventually, with a diminishing number of boarders and vocational candidates, both SMA and RHS closed their dormitories and operated solely as Catholic high schools.
SMA and RHS supported each other through sports programs, theater and music productions, dances, proms and academic instruction.
In this year, all of Paschal Hall was air conditioned and an annex was added that includes an office for the Athletics Director and a new boys' team and locker room.
[12] The varsity football team won three straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Metro Division Championship 2018, 2019 and 2021.
[16] They are required to take four social studies credits, four English, four religion (except in the case of transfer students), four math, three science, three of the same foreign language, one fine arts, one technology, one physical education, and four electives.