Our Heritage and Tradition

Educating generations of girls for six incredible decades.

Named in honour of St Teresa of Avila, the first female Doctor of the Church, Avila College was established in 1965 through the vision and collaboration of five local Catholic parishes: Holy Family, St Leonard’s, St Christopher’s, St Mary Magdalen’s and Good Shepherd. Recognising the growing needs of young families in the area, these parishes united in their commitment to providing a Catholic secondary education for girls and invited the Presentation Sisters to bring this vision to life.

Inspired by the dual charisms of St Teresa of Avila and Nano Nagle, Avila College is guided by the Gospel values of faith, hope and love. These are enriched by the Presentation values of faith, vision, community, action, daring, justice and compassion, which continue to shape our learning community.

The Presentation Sisters teaching at Avila were nuns at the cutting edge of education; they were the original Women’s Libbers who instilled in the girls the concept of ‘You can do anything’.

– Vivienne Hughes, 1969 College Co-Captain

In 1969, the first matriculation class of 13 students graduated. From an initial enrolment of just 110 students and two full time staff, Avila College has grown tenfold since the first classrooms were built in Charles Street. It is now one of the largest Catholic secondary schools for girls in Victoria with an enrolment of more than 1100 students.

The College initially operated from temporary classrooms in the grounds of St Leonard’s Catholic Primary School in Glen Waverley before moving to its present location in Charles Street, Mount Waverley at the start of 1966. Initially students were accommodated in portable classrooms. Construction of a single classroom block began and the grounds looked very much like farm paddocks.

Over the decades, the small site has evolved and expanded through continuous development, renewal and refurbishment into a modern, green and technology enabled school campus.