The Doane Stuart School is one of Albany’s oldest and most prestigious college preparatory schools. Doane Stuart is an interfaith school. It was founded in 1975 and traces its heritage to the partnership of two Albany schools with long and proud histories grounded in the Catholic and Episcopal traditions.
For the past three years, St Mary’s, along with Stranmillis University College, has collaborated in an exchange programme with the Doane Stuart School, Albany, New York. The programme has afforded one student from each college the opportunity to spend three weeks working in the school which accommodates pupils from nursery through to Grade 12. The two fortunate students will travel to Albany together and be hosted by families whose children attend the school. The students will integrate into the life of the school community by teaching a range of classes and engaging in the many extra-curricular activities which the school provides.
The programme was initiated as part of Doane Stuart’s Irish Exchange Programme and has now become a key strand of the St Mary’s and Stranmillis inter-college Diversity and Mutual Understanding (DMU) Programme.
As part of the mutual collaboration which has been established, St Mary’s is also proud to host a party of pupils and staff from Doane Stuart who will visit Belfast in February 2012.