St Mary'S School For Girls (Sandton)

St Mary's School for Girls in Waverley, Sandton. Established 1888. They will tell you that themselves, loudly, before you even ask. "Johannesburg's oldest school," they say, like that is a flex and not just proof that someone has been charging Joburg families an obscene amount of money for the longest time. Grade 12 fees are R218,425 a year. R218,425. That is not school fees, that is a deposit on a townhouse in Bryanston. Your parents did not send you to school, they bought into a timeshare with homework. Eight learners per teacher though, credit where it is due, that ratio is tighter than the blazer they make you wear in a Joburg February. 1026 girls, 129 educators, everyone getting attention whether they want it or not. The Anglican tradition is strong here, so you can confess your sins AND your calculus mistakes in the same breath. And shoutout to "Little Saints," the pre-primary section where they also take boys, because apparently the Anglican church needs a trial period before it commits to girls only. Very on brand. "Well-rounded, confident individuals" who go on to excel in arts, sciences, business, politics and sport. Basically they are saying every successful woman in Joburg either went here or should have. The school has been around since 1888 and it still sounds like it is in its villain era. Overall verdict: The most expensive, most Anglican, most self-assured school in Waverley, but with that teacher ratio your daughter might actually learn something, so fine, it earns it.