Sta. Maria National High School was the first public school established in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao in June 1968. The school is provided with school site segregated from lots 1495,79 and 80, PLS 60, situated at Sta. Maria by way of reservation and donation by Julieta Quilala and Mariano Acojido. Sta. Maria Barrio High School started with 28 students with one-room building put up by the Municipal Government as Municipal Dispensary. Teachers were Mr. Guerero Tuguinay of Kiangan, Ifugao as full-time teacher, Miss Virginia Jacinto, Mr. Alejandro Aquimba and other elementary teachers as part time teachers. Mr Jaime Dinagtuan acted as the Teacher-In-Charge of both elementary and secondary. Mr. Tuguinay was dismissed after three months due to mental illness. Ms. Eliza Labrador from San Mateo, Isabela took over until the end of the school year, 1969-1970. After which, they were absorbed in the elementary grades leaving the Barrio High School opened for interested applicants. Miss Zinnia Timmacdog Pinniliw from Lagawe and Josephine Lopez of Santiago, Isabela were recruited to teach in the high school. Miss Josephine Tapay joined the three teachers the following year until the first graduation in March 1972.

       In preparation of the movement of the high school from the elementary school compound to the new site in 1972, the mayor caused the segration survey on lots 1495 and parcels of land from lot 79 (Julieta Quilala) and lot 80 (Mariano Acojido) all PLS 60 situated in Sta. Maria. The site was levelled and constructed a pre-fab building with four (4) classrooms.

       Considering the financial constraint of Sta. Maria Barrio High School, Mayor Gabriel Chilagan convinced all barangay captains of the municipality to donate 10% realty share to augment the financial support of the high school.

       Later, Sta. Maria Barrio High School was renamed Potia Community High School in School Year 1973 – 1974 and the Potia Barangay High School the following school year until 1983. It opened annexes at Barangay Pinto in 1978 and Barangay Namillangan in 1979. The school was nationalized on June 10, 1983 under Batas Pambansa Blg. 627 authored by Assemblyman Gualberto B. Lumauig converting Potia Barangay High School to Sta. Maria National High School (SMNHS).

       The pilot Senior High School of SMNHS opened in 2015 with 15 Technical – Vocational students for the Beauty Care and Organic Agriculture. 9 of the 15 enrollees graduated on the following school year 2015 – 2016.On this same school that the senior high school formally opened with Ms. Eunice Ann B. Puguon as the Principal II together with Ms. Violeta D. Bulan as the Head Teacher III with borrowed teachers from the junior high. Three strands were offered namely; Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS), Accountancy and Business Management (ABM) for the academic track and Organic Agriculture, Beauty Care and Dressmaking and Tailoring for Technical – Vocational and Livelihood (TVL) Track.

       In January 2017, Ms. Mary Mavis B. Tuguinay was assigned as the Assistant Principal II for the senior high department. It was a rough start for the school due to lack of facilities but with the collaborative efforts of the 7 permanent senior high teachers  and 7 borrowed  junior high teachers, staff, administration and stakeholders, 234 students of HumSS, ABM and Organic Agriculture and Beauty Care for TVL graduated in 2018. However, enrollees of Dressmaking and Tailoring did not finish because some dropped out and others transferred out.

       Due to the rising number of students and the demand to open for a new track, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) was opened in June 2018 with Mr. Clarence D. Binwag as the School Principal.

       In 2019, SMNHS re-opened Dressmaking and Tailoring. Due to the opening of other tracks, the enrolment continuously increased to 617 in 2019, 961 in 2020, and 1,200 in 2021. With the increase in the number of students, the number of teachers also increased with 54 personnel, 44 teachers, and 10 non-teaching personnel. Among the 44 teachers, 28 are permanent and 3 teachers are borrowed from the Junior High. and 16 were Municipal Special Education Fund (MSEF)paid teachers. There are 3 permanent non-teaching personnel, and 4 security guards 1 of them is permanent and is borrowed from the Junior High School, the 2 are funded by the MLGU and the other one is funded by the School MOOE. 2 Administrative Aides and 1 Librarian were also hired who are funded by MOOE and MLGU respectively. SMNHS – SHS caters to students from Ifugao and other neighboring provinces like Mt. Province, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and others.