St Joseph’s Primary, Taree was opened on 29 January 1923 with an initial enrolment of eighty-eight pupils and a staff of five Sisters of St Joseph’s under the principalship of Sister Mary De Sales. The commitment to Catholic Education displayed by the members of the Taree Parish, their Parish Priests, the Sisters of St Joseph and lay members of staff over the past eighty years has ensured that 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 with fifteen classes, a total enrolment of approximately four hundred and thirty students, and staff of sixteen full time and three part time teachers. Sister Ellen Shanahan was appointed as the Pastoral Care Support person at St Joseph’s in 2003. The ancillary staff is made up of two full time secretaries as well as three part time integrative assistants, a full time library assistant, two full time aboriginal education assistants, a part time cleaner, part time groundsman and part time canteen supervisor.
