St Aloysius College, in North Melbourne is one of Melbourne’s oldest Catholic schools. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1887, the college was built on the values of justice, compassion, hospitality, respect, service, and courage.
Today the school is led by Principal Mary Farah who is dedicated to honouring the Mercy traditions that have served previous generations so well, while being forward-focused and progressive in her approach, embracing change in many forms over her 13-year tenure.
The first of these cultural shifts was realised in 2023, when in the face of declining enrollments, the college made a bold move to welcome its first cohort of boys into year 7 after 136 years as a single sex school.
The change immediately placed St Aloysius in the unique position as the only Catholic co-education secondary school in inner Melbourne, and with its current enrollments of 812 projected to grow past 1000 in 2027, the Altiora move has seen the college thrive.
"Catholic education leaders act when there is a need, and we saw the college required change to sustain its identity and its existence and to best serve its community, hence the decision for us to become
co-ed"
Mary Farah
Principal, Assumption College
Buoyed by that success, Mary has led the community into another cultural shift, embodied by a modern glass fronted six-storey Senior Campus building, a short walk from the original red-brick and bluestone Curran Street campus.
Designed specifically for year 11 and 12 students and named Altiora, meaning ‘to strive for higher things’, the building is more than just a new facility – it represents a way of relating to students that is in line with the school’s forward-looking philosophy.
“All elements are designed to make the interaction between staff and students at an adult level because we want to prepare them for life beyond school, whether they go onto tertiary education or in a workplace,” says Mary.
In addition to traditional classrooms and laboratories, Altiora has a range of collaborative spaces including boardroom style meeting rooms, and alcoves with soft furnishings and indoor plants, reminiscent of a vibrant modern office.
Natural wood textures and warm tones are used throughout the complex and are especially prevalent in the student hub where couches and kitchen facilities combine to create a university campus feel.
Lifts transport students and staff between floors while light pours through curtain glass walls into corridors lined with circular tables like an alfresco café.
The showcase space is on the top floor – a flexible space that can host events or be set for presentations with chairs arranged in auditorium style, while large tables and circular booth arrangements provide plenty of room for group work or private study. To ensure the most is made of its elevated position, a whole section of the outer glass wall tilts up like a huge garage door to open the space onto a surrounding terrace with BBQ facilities and sweeping views of the Docklands and the city skyline.
Importantly, the specialness of the new campus, which began construction in late 2024, is not lost on students, who are eager to begin their relationship with the space after its opening in August 2026.
“Towards the end of high school, it's about preparing you for the outside world, and I can really see that in this campus. I feel like a grown up here”, says year 12 student and College Captain Fadzai Bako.
Fellow College Captain Amelie Ellerton who wants to study biomedicine at university and become a pediatrician, believes the campus is the perfect springboard to further study.
“There’s lots of collaborative workspace between teachers and students and is open plan that mimics tertiary environment so I can see it’s really designed for senior learning and I’m most excited about the chemistry labs”, she says.
And for year 9 student, Joseph, who will be coming to the campus next year, Altiora is a clear step towards adulthood.
"The spaces here will mean we have more freedom and makes the jump from the middle years to our senior years a little bit more prominent and I think it’ll truly give us a sense that we're nearing the end of our high school years and that’s really exciting”
Joseph, Year 9 student at St Aloysius College
For the St Aloysius community, the new senior campus represents a significant investment as the College approaches two important milestones: its 140th Anniversary in 2027 and becoming fully co-educational in 2028. The support of CDF, through a $32 million loan, helped ensure the $38 million project could become a reality.
“Working with a Catholic organisation like CDF is really important because they understand who we are because we have the same vision, we have the same values and share the same goals,” says Mary.
“I genuinely believe that if you deliver an environment where students feel special and teachers respect it, they do their very best,” says Mary.
From its bluestone beginnings in 1887 to a glass-fronted campus with views across the Melbourne skyline, St Aloysius has always believed in the potential of its students. Altiora is simply the latest, and perhaps most striking, expression of that belief.
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CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the Catholic Development Fund ABN 15 274 943 760 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure. Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investors’ funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Dioceses of Sale and Bunbury. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
