A clear understanding of its objectives as a Catholic Marist school

• A school which offers families an approach to education which draws faith, culture and life into harmony, which provide a particularly favourable setting for Christian education, gives priority to a pastoral care that is adapted to the needs of young people, which gives particular attention to pupils who are in difficulty and which encourages dialogue between persons of different cultures and different beliefs.
• A school which teaches in the Marist style of Presence, Simplicity, Family Spirit, Love of Work, In the Way of Mary, and which places strong emphasis on a sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
• A school which provides a broad curriculum which cultivates cultural and aesthetic elements, as well as the intellectual and physical, but which does not define the success of one individual in terms of superiority over others.
• A school where our leaders develop an organisational approach which reflects our values by encouraging a spirit of partnership and shared responsibility, while, at the same time, allowing for the responsible autonomy of each person involved in the educative process.
• A school which encourages, supports and actively promotes the ongoing personal, Christian and professional formation of all staff.
• A school which welcomes and involves parents as partners and assists them in their primary task of handing on the faith and of educating their children.
• A school which responds to the expectations and needs of today's young people.
• A school which fosters a family spirit that manifests itself in close co-operation between the Brothers, teachers, parents and students.

A broad curriculum that encourages all students to aim for third level.

• This is particularly important given the wide social mix of students attending the College and given our commitment to the significant number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who attend the College.
• The details of this curriculum are outlined under "Academics" on this site.
• The school is part of the Trinity Access Programme which is of particular assistance in encouraging and enabling students from more disadvantaged backgrounds to gain access to third level. The details of the programme are outlined elsewhere on this site.

An experienced and talented teaching staff

Staff 2016-2017

• The staff is particularly committed to the development of second-level education in Ireland.
  • Mr Paul Meany, Principal, is past President of the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCSS) and of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) for voluntary secondary schools and is a member of the Council of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools.
  • Ms Pauline Kelly is currently seconded to the Second-level Schools Support Services organised by the Department of Education and Science
  • Ms Norah Martyn was recently President of the Business Teachers Association of Ireland (BSTAI) while Ms Caoimhe McGuinness is Secretary of the Dublin Branch of the BSTAI
  • Mr Robbie Cronin is the ASTI representative on the Irish Committee of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
• Most teachers are members of their subject association and a large number of nationally-used textbooks have been produced by College staff. For example
  • Leaving Cert Art Ms T Fahey
  • Junior Cert English Ms P Kelly
  • Junior Cert and Leaving Cert Irish Mr R Cronin

The benefiots and features of a south Dublin fee-charging school - without the fees

• Believing that good teaching in well appointed classrooms is central to the success of the school, we have spent a considerable amount of money in recent years in ensuring that each teacher's classroom is as well resourced as possible. This means that each teacher has his/her own room with whiteboard, overhead projector, tape/CD recorder, TV and video, and relevant wall charts. In addition, each room is wired for broadband for use by the teachers with their individual laptop computers
• In addition, we provide the opportunity for each boy to experience our tremendous mix of students from different backgrounds and different parts of the city which is so educationally beneficial and socially desirable, and which is considered by many of our most successful past-pupils to be one of our greatest strengths.
• We also have over 80 international students who have come to us from 30 different countries around the world. Their presence and involvement in the life of the school is a huge plus to the school community.
• The College is ideally located beside the new Aviva Stadium in the heart of Ireland's premium corporate district where the College's imposing buildings and tree-lined grounds on the banks of the Dodder form an oasis of learning within easy reach of the museums and galleries of Merrion Square.
• The College Swimming Pool, which is used extensively by students, staff and parents as well as by other local schools and by the local community, is renowned all over the city.
• Lansdowne Road DART station is located immediately at the rear of the school. This enables students from as far as Arklow in the south, Maynooth in the west and Balbriggan in the north, to attend the College by rail.

A school community with a positive and friendly environment yet having a strong work ethic with strict regulations on class attendance, punctuality, behaviour and homework.

• A vibrant population of 450 students which is large enough to provide an excellent range of subjects yet small enough so that we know all of our students individually
• Mutual co-operation and respect between staff and students leads to a student-centred approach implemented by teachers who are knowledgeable, humorous, energetic and approachable.
• A very successful and effective supervised study programme is provided for State examination classes.

A very wide range of sports and other extra-curricular activities

• Competitive success at Provincial and National levels in
  • Rugby - Leinster titles
  • Soccer - Leinster titles and international players
  • Gaelic Football - Leinster titles
  • Hurling - Dublin titles and players on the Dublin teams
  • Basketball - All-Ireland titles and international players
  • Table-Tennis - All-Ireland titles and international players
  • Water-Polo - All-Ireland titles and international players
  • Cricket was added to our list of sports in Spring 2007
• In light of our belief in the vitally positive value of sport for today's adolescent, we complement the competitive participation with an intra-mural programme which emphasises the importance of good health through physical education. (PE was added as as timetabled subject in September 2008)
• Drama Society, founded in 1973, and which has produced an Annual Musical for the past twenty-nine years
• Debating
• Concerts
• Concern (Third World Charity)
• Tours (in and out of Ireland)