The school was founded on 14 January 1887 as a Parish School attached to the St. Paul’s Church of Milagiriya with only 24 students and 4 teachers. The first principal of the school was Mrs Stella Coban. In the early years of the legendary pathway of the school the majority of the students belonged to the Burger community and the medium of education was English. Later until 1957 the School had given education in all Sinhala, Tamil and English mediums.

The school was taken over by the state on 15th of December 1961. After that the school strived towards achieving common education objectives with no religious or ethnic bias among the students and the members of the staff.

The school was announced as a Buddhist school in 1964. One of the most memorable events in the history of the school was the construction of the Shrine room within the school premises. The annual pirith chanting program was inaugurated in 1966 during the period of the former principal Mrs.Barbara Gunaasekara.Planting of a sapling of the Sri Mahabodhi took place in 1984 during the time of the former principal Ms. K. Pitigala.

The school reached an important milestone in February 1993 during the time of the former principal Mrs.Gothami Fernando, where it was declared as a National School. The commitment and untiring efforts of the first principal Ms. Stella Coban (1887 – 1892) and all the other former principals of the school helped to lay a strong foundation and strived its way to a leading National School for girls in Colombo. The school whilst gradually developing its resources and facilities offered opportunities for students to pursue studies in Arts, Commerce, Language and Science subjects. English medium classes were offered for students since 2001. In addition to formal classroom activities there are over 30 clubs and societies related to sports and co- curricular activities to enhance character and personality development in students.

Throughout the history, St.Paul’s has accordingly endowed the nation with a generation of accomplished ladies including medical,engineering, law, science and arts graduates and professionals in every field. With the glorious history of 137 years the school has expanded its capacities in every aspect. Today it nourishes the souls of more than 4500 students with the help of an academic staff of 150 and a non-academic Staff of 25.

The present principal Mrs. Sumedha Jayaweera ( 2015 to date ) steers the school towards progress with her effective administration capacity and excellent leadership. During the past 3 years after the arrival of the new principal St Paul’s has taken its way into a new direction. Due to the clear vision of the present principal there is a noticeable, accelerated progress in every field of the school. Active participation and creative ideas of the Management Committee, School Development Society, Past Pupils’ Association, the teachers and parents have brought about the progress of the school to where it stands today as one of the leading girls school of Colombo after passing numerous milestones in her legacy of 131 years of excellence.