St Joseph’s Primary was opened on 29 January 1923 in Wynter Street, Taree with an initial enrolment of 88 pupils and a staff of five Sisters of Joseph’s under the principalship of Sister Mary De Sales.
The commitment to Catholic education displayed by the members of the Taree parish, its priests, the Sisters of St Joseph and lay members of staff over the past 90 years has ensured the educational foundations laid during the school’s early years have been strengthened and further developed for the benefit of all past and present St Joseph’s Primary students.
St Joseph’s is currently a two-stream school, operating under the umbrella of the Catholic Schools Office in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The school has a total enrolment of about 320 students, split into about 15 classes. Committed full-time and part-time teachers receive assistance from support staff. The staff and students of St Joseph’s moved into new school facilities at St Joseph’s Drive on 25 May 1998. These buildings were blessed by Bishop Michael Malone and officially opened by Mark Vaile MP on Sunday 9 August 1998.
As a school community we constantly display our respect to the Biripi people and acknowledge them as the traditional custodians of the land on which our school is built.