St. Paul's Campus was originally established as 'St. Paul's College' in 1965, under the auspices of the American Order of the Society of Marianists. The order had been invited to establish this Catholic Secondary Boys' College by the then Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix. The college's colours were then red, white and blue and its motto was Ecce Mater Tua. In 2008, the school opened a second campus at Point Cook called Notre Dame.
In the early 1960s, the local parish priests purchased a large, 9 hectare, undeveloped block in Altona North. Through the labour of the parents of the school's initial students, the austere block was transformed into an attractive property. The College's primary edifice, the three-storey building called the "Jubilee Building", was completed in 1969. Following to be completed were:
The Chaminade Library in 1971.
The generous Art/Craft/Science Lab and the senior classrooms known as the "Winters Building" in 1979.
The administrative complex and gymnasium in 1982.
The Jubilee Building was extensively renovated in 1998. In 2004, with the assistance of a Commonwealth Government grant, work commenced on enlarging the library complex and the building of two new computer labs. These developments were completed in 2005. In 2009–2010 three more developments were in place. These were the expansion of the Technology Building, construction of a new canteen, gym, changing rooms and toilet and the new McMahon Language Centre. These projects were funded by the National Building Stimulus Grant.
Notre Dame campus
Construction of the Notre Dame Campus commenced in mid-2007, with campus opening in 2008. The initial intake was restricted to year seven students, with construction continuing as further year levels commenced. The first group of year twelve students graduated from the Notre Dame campus in 2013.
Transition to Emmanuel College
In 2006, the plans for the transition to Emmanuel College and the future of the school were commenced. 2008 saw the full transition from 'St. Paul's College' to 'Emmanuel College' with the acquisition of a second co-educational campus. The school eventually incorporated a new emblem and changed its motto to Life To The Full, which comes from the Gospel according to John: "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full".
Headmaster and current staff
Since 1997, the incumbent principal at the St. Paul's campus was Christopher Stock. In 2008 when the transition to Emmanuel College was complete, Stock became the principal of Emmanuel College, with responsibility for the St. Paul's and the Notre Dame campuses.
House and homeroom system
The Emmanuel College house system consists of five houses:
McCoy
Cassidy
McCluskey
Winters
Chaminade
These houses are named after the Marianists that initially helped serve and found the school, and Father John Cassidy of St Mary's Parish, Williamstown, who was involved in the establishment of the college. The exception is Chaminade, which is named after William Chaminade, the founder of The Marianist order. Both the St Paul's and Notre Dame campuses feature homerooms with about 25–30 students, ranging from years 7–12.
Emmanuel College has offered the VCE program at the St. Paul's Campus since its implementation in 1990. The school tends to perform well in the VCE, with a student achieving an ATAR score of 99.15 in 2019, the highest ATAR of the school thus far.
