The history of Maryknoll Fathers' School in many ways reflects the broader development of Hong Kong itself. Established during a period when the city was sprouting from poverty and basic infrastructure, it has played a vital role in serving both refugee and local communities. The school has expanded educational opportunities in tandem with the city’s urban growth and societal shifts. From addressing fundamental needs like poverty alleviation to empowering students across a wide range of social backgrounds, Maryknoll Fathers' School exemplifies a deep commitment and passion for supporting Hong Kong’s evolving educational and social landscape. Its resilience and dedication continue to inspire ongoing progress and inclusivity within the community.
In the early 1950s, Hong Kong faced disorder and explosive population growth. It is difficult for those born more recently to grasp the challenges society confronted accommodating an influx of immigrant mainlanders and meeting their physical and spiritual needs. The hills of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island were dotted with makeshift wooden shacks, where daily hazards like fire, landslides, epidemics, and poverty afflicted residents. There was an urgent societal need for safe housing, medical care, and education for the swelling population.
In response, the Hong Kong Government collaborated with religious and social organizations to build and operate schools in impoverished areas. The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers answered the call to serve the eastern Kowloon district. In Kowloon Tsai, after his missionary work in Wuchow, South China, Fr. Peter A. Reilly M.M. worked for three years establishing a social center, a small church, a study room, and hiring teachers to provide rudimentary education. Recognizing greater needs, he applied to the Education Department to build a subsidized primary school and was approved to establish both primary and secondary schools.
Fr. Reilly faced the daunting task of constructing the school and launching its programs. Fortunately, he found a capable ally in Mrs. Tong Yu Sheung Woon (唐余湘畹) the school’s first principal. She brought extensive experience to organize, enroll, hire, and guide the initial students and teachers. The primary school started as a 12-classroom, double-session (AM & PM), coeducational six-year vernacular institution. The secondary section housed parallel streams—Forms 1 to 5 in English and C. M. 1 to S. M. 3 classes—with science rooms. Both buildings were built alongside the stream or nullah giving the Tai Hang Tung (Big Nullah-East 大坑東) District its name.
Throughout 1957, enrollment and hiring progressed alongside construction. The official opening on 26 September 1957 was presided over by Rt. Rev. Bishop Lawrence Bianchi and His Excellency Sir Alexander Grantham, joined by many dignitaries who came to support Maryknoll Society and celebrate the dedicated efforts of Fr. Reilly, Mrs. Tong, and their team in founding Hong Kong’s first government-aided school.
In 1959, the secondary school graduated its first Form 5 and S. M. 3 students. Their outstanding achievements boosted staff morale. Students of that generation were highly motivated to excel academically, seeing education as their only hope for a brighter future. Fr. Reilly and other Maryknoll priests and brothers also taught English, Ethics, and Religious Studies, guiding many students in faith and responding to God’s call.
The growing success and demand led Maryknoll Fathers to expand the secondary school. The Education Bureau approved adding a site behind the original school for a new wing, completed in September 1965. Rt. Rev. Bishop Frederick Donaghy, M. M., former bishop of Wuchow where Fr. Reilly served over 20 years, blessed the new wing on 17 February 1966. This wing housed a new library, 12 additional classrooms, enhanced science facilities, and a hall accommodating 350 students for exams and ceremonies.
Maryknoll Fathers’ School then experienced a period of consolidation and steady growth, paralleling Hong Kong's development. The Chinese Middle School section was phased out; the secondary section became a four-stream Anglo-Chinese school for Forms 1 to 6, offering matriculation in Arts and Science. Since 1957, the school has nurtured over 8,000 distinguished graduates who have served the community with charity and Christian conviction.
Mrs. Tong dedicated twenty years to building strong administration and ethos. Active in advisory and educational bodies, she received numerous honors before retiring in 1977, leaving a legacy of zeal and devoted service for others to continue and surpass.
The school continued expanding, and the Primary Section was established as a separate entity, Maryknoll Fathers’ School (Primary Section), relocating to a spacious new campus at 11 Hoi Lai Street in January 2009, maintaining close ties as its feeder school.
With Hong Kong’s improving economic and social landscape in the 1970s, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers chose to prioritize their efforts toward pastoral services, gradually transferring sponsorship of the schools they had established in Hong Kong to the Diocese. Faced with a declining number and advancing age of missionaries, they resolved to formally hand over management of Maryknoll Fathers’ School and its Primary Section to the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, effective 1 September 2023. This pivotal transition safeguards the school’s enduring mission and values, ensuring their continued vitality and stewardship under the Diocese, with renewed purpose and stability.
Now a Diocesan school, Maryknoll Fathers' School remains deeply committed to preserving its treasured Maryknoll spirit. Grateful for its founding legacy, it continually offers formative programs for staff to reconnect with the school’s rich spiritual heritage, fueling its mission to nurture each generation with passion and values instilled by its pioneering founders.
The school honors the dedicated service of its late founder, Fr. Reilly, who passed away on 19 June 1994, and of many Maryknollers who zealously taught or assisted in the school’s growth.
Special recognition goes to the primary school staff and principals—Mrs. Elizabeth Tao Cheng Kwan Woon, Mrs. Amy Mok Wong Yin Mei, and Dr. Ng Wai Man, the current principal since 2008—for their indispensable contributions.
We applaud the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers for their altruistic service to the school and the Tai Hang Tung community. May this tribute evoke vibrant memories among students, alumni, parents, and teachers, inspiring continued solidarity to build upon their foundation and make the Maryknoll legacy shine ever brighter.
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (w.e.f. 1 September 2023)
Catholic Education Office
Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. (M.M.)
美國天主教傳教會（瑪利諾神父）
Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers
Founding School Sponsor (September 1957 – August 2023)