Thornhill College is a Roman Catholic girls' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1886 and moved to Culmore in 1932. It moved into its new building in 2003. It has a student population of approximately 1500 and a staff of 100 teachers. Miss Hamilton replaced Mrs. Kelly in 2010 as the school principal.
Catherine McAuley said: "Let us rejoice when good is done, no matter by whom it is accomplished". The school strives in the words McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, "to fit young women for Earth without unfitting them for Heaven".
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The school motto is the latin phrase "Adveniat Regnum Tuum", which translates as " Thy Kingdom come".
Thornhill College is an all girls Roman Catholic College. It is listed in the top 10 schools of Northern Ireland
In 2009 Thornhill College became a Specialist School in Mathematics and Physics.
The Specialist Schools Programme helps schools, in partnership with private sector sponsors and supported by additional Government funding, to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and achieve their targets to raise standards.
Thornhill College has a Senior Debating Society, established in 1954. The team reached final of the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition in 2004 and 2007, and is known throughout the school for wearing the gold stripe around the lapel of the debating blazer. Thornhill has had two teams in the semi-finals of this competition who debated against each other on 30 March 2007 in Belfast. The debating society has come to the fore in extra-curricular activities in the last number of years. The society meets regularly to debate topical subjects and research up and coming competitions. The school also has an established Junior Debating Society who meet every Tuesday after school as part of the homework club.
The school has recently erected a statue on the "teardrop" at the front of the school. Many pupils helped Mr E. Mc Ateer with the design. The piece was constructed by Maurice Harron. The final sculpture was officially unveiled early Autumn 2008 with a special celebration.
A grammar school with a high level of academic achievements including high results at KS3 and GCSE with a few girls coming top in N. Ireland. AS and A Levels are taken every year by a high number of Students.