The land, on which this school is currently situated on, used to be a field of corn then a barren land with just ONE TREE. It was obtained by Bishop Armido Gasparini, Vicar Apostolic of Hawassa. He was running the St. Daniel Comboni Primary School (now known as Kidane Mihiret, situated across the road from this compound) at the time when he decided to purchase this land to broaden the service of the Catholic Church in Hawassa from Primary School education only, to including Secondary School levels.

In 1990 G.C. (1982 E.C.), under the supervision of Bishop Gasparini and Sr. Giuditta Gasparotto of The Comboni Sisters, the construction of the three blocks; the CSPS Administration Office block and the classroom blocks on its sides went on. Sr. Sarina Nici was in charge of gaining permission for operating the first academic year, in which the school accepted only grade 9 students. In this first academic school year (1991/92 G.C. / 1984 E.C.), a total of 78 students; 46 males and 32 females were registered. Sr. Sarina employed the first teachers: two of them full-time, namely, Ato Issayas Mulugeta and Ato Argaw Fantu, and three part-timers; Sr. Maria Pia Colombo, later on, took over the management of the school.

After registration, St. Daniel Comboni Senior Secondary School (CSPS) began its service on October 18. 1991 G.C. In the following three years (1992-94 G.C.), the school's permission was extended to accept up to grade 12 students, one year at a time. In 1995 G.C. (1987 E.C.), the First Batch graduated from grade 12, and its students went on to join universities across Ethiopia. Much effort was made in the following years leading to the expansion of the school structures, which came to fruition because of the visionary and hard work of Sr. Maria Pia.

Further constructions like that of the laboratories took place in 1992 G.C.; the huge library, together with the block close to it in 2000 G.C.; The block of the bigger classrooms on the left of the school entrance was built in 2002 G.C. Between 2002 and 2003 The Back Side was built. The only Ground + 1 building in the compound - where the Technical Drawing Room and the TV Room are currently situated - was built in 1995/96 E.C. (2003 G.C.).

During these years, the school kept expanding in several ways, established traditions, and the school’s motto: “Always More, Always Better, For God and Our Country”, which is deeply rooted in hard work, discipline, and development of the whole person, became prominent.

Extra-Curricular Activities of the school like the Interclass Football League Tournament (currently known as Comboni Football League) and Basketball Tournaments; Clubs like Environmental Club, Mini Media Club, Reading Club & Science Club; Special Events like Comboni Run Day, Flag Day/Cultural Day, Christmas Celebration, International Women’s Day, Graduation and many others ran throughout years.

Ato Argaw and Ato Issayas, through their hard work and dedication, gained more prominent roles in the school’s administration. They formed the management team of the school alongside Sr. Maria Pia, who later on in 2007 left the school and the country for family reasons. Sr. Mariolina Cattaneo took over the directing of the school and worked closely with Ato Argaw and Ato Issayas.

There were plans to expand the school further to open a college. But this was eventually put aside to expand the Secondary and Preparatory School and to put to use the new buildings. The number of students grew remarkably in these years. A great effort was also made on standardization. Rules and Regulations for Students and Parents were edited and described in detail. The financial administration was made more transparent.

Sr. Daniela Molinari, in 2008 G.C. joined the management team comprised of Sr. Mariolina, Ato Argaw, and Ato lssayas, which saw the departure of Ato Argaw followed by Sr. Mariolina in 2010. Sr. Daniela took over as School Directress. The new management team was made up of Sr. Daniela, Ato Issayas as Deputy Head Master, and W/ro Burtukan Abebe, who had joined the school as a junior secretary in 2005, as Executive School Secretary. In these years, additional buildings have been made such as the compound wall, the basketball court surface, and the new toilets. But a great emphasis has been put on the academic aspect through closer contact with teachers, well-established evaluation policies, serious continuous assessment of the students, stable extra-curricular activities, and periodical conduct meetings. In 2013 Sr. Catherine Aceng joined the school’s management team.

In the school year 2015/16 G.C. (2008 E.C.), there was 161 grade 12 students and 151 of them took the Entrance Exam to the university. The excellency of this school is surely witnessed by the high score and excellent results of the students in the exams of grade 10 and the Entrance Exam to university. This Batch was one of the school administration’s most endeared in many aspects and its Official Batch Photo is currently on display In the front of the school’s office to this day.

In 2018 G.C., Sr. Daniela finished her service after serving for a whole decade and left her post as the Head Mistress of the school. She was succeeded by Sr. Lucia Disconsi. Sr. Lucia worked alongside Ato Issayas for a year and in 2019 G.C. Ato Issayas left the school after serving as a mathematics teacher alongside his leadership role for 28 years. alongside his leadership role for 28 years.

Source: CSPS History Board