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HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: Difference between revisions
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The soaring enrollment in parochial schools continued into the 1960s. In 1964 an additional eight rooms were added to Resurrection School to double the original number of classrooms. In 1965 attendance figures showed: St. Raphael's, 278; St. Joseph the Worker, 641; 1,024 Wahlert High School; St. Patrick, 532; and [[NATIVITY SCHOOL]], 904. The separation of girls and boys ended in 1966 while the enrollment of Wahlert reached 2,226. The Archdiocesan Board of Education was established in 1967. The same year the Steinmetz Building was completed and ready for St. Anthony School which had an enrollment of 1,082. [[RESURRECTION SCHOOL]] enrollment peaked in 1968 at 560 students. The change of St. Mary's Home to [[AREA RESIDENTIAL CARE, INC.]] occurred in 1969. (25) | The soaring enrollment in parochial schools continued into the 1960s. In 1964 an additional eight rooms were added to Resurrection School to double the original number of classrooms. In 1965 attendance figures showed: St. Raphael's, 278; St. Joseph the Worker, 641; 1,024 Wahlert High School; St. Patrick, 532; and [[NATIVITY SCHOOL]], 904. The separation of girls and boys ended in 1966 while the enrollment of Wahlert reached 2,226. The Archdiocesan Board of Education was established in 1967. The same year the Steinmetz Building was completed and ready for St. Anthony School which had an enrollment of 1,082. [[RESURRECTION SCHOOL]] enrollment peaked in 1968 at 560 students. The change of St. Mary's Home to [[AREA RESIDENTIAL CARE, INC.]] occurred in 1969. (25) | ||
The Academy of the Visitation closed in 1970 and St. Raphael School closed in 1976 due to declining enrollment. Countering this trend, Sacred Heart School kindergarten which had been discontinued in 1957 was reestablished. Holy Ghost School had a gymnasium constructed and before and after-school care programs were begun to meet the needs of working parents. From 1975 to 1983 the tuition at Holy Trinity was one hundred dollars annually. (26) | |||
In 1982 St. Mary and St. Patrick schools were consolidated due to declining enrollments. St. Mary served as the kindergarten through third grade while St. Patrick served grades four through eight and housed the parish preschool. This consolidation was known as Downtown Catholic. Dominican Sisters staffed St. Joseph the Worker for the last time in 1986. In 1988 Holy Trinity-Sacred Heart School was formed as a pre-K through eighth grade consolidation. Both parishes operated the school. The same year, Downtown Catholic renamed itself St. Mary-St. Pat Elementary School to renew parish identification. (27) | In 1982 St. Mary and St. Patrick schools were consolidated due to declining enrollments. St. Mary served as the kindergarten through third grade while St. Patrick served grades four through eight and housed the parish preschool. This consolidation was known as Downtown Catholic. Dominican Sisters staffed St. Joseph the Worker for the last time in 1986. In 1988 Holy Trinity-Sacred Heart School was formed as a pre-K through eighth grade consolidation. Both parishes operated the school. The same year, Downtown Catholic renamed itself St. Mary-St. Pat Elementary School to renew parish identification. (27) |
Revision as of 04:23, 22 October 2014
This entry is being edited.
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.
It has been said that one of the greatest elements of success in any human enterprise is unity of action. And so I propose that we, the members of this Catholic community of faith, unite in purpose and action to take part in shaping the success of the "Building in Faith Campaign" for Holy Family Catholic Schools. Since the time of the first missionaries used the MISSISSIPPI RIVER as the avenue for bringing the Word of God to the people of this scenic area, the citizens of Dubuque have been noted for their devotion and dedication to Catholic education. This centuries-long tradition of providing excellence in education to Dubuqueland youth is something we can all take pride in.
Now we are entrusted with the task of preserving and expanding the rich heritage of faith-based education in our city. Over the next several months, Holy Family Catholic Schools will be engaged in a campaign which will allow us to continue our mission of providing quality Catholic education to future generations. It is the legacy of hope for the Church and our nation in which I put my faith. The great strength of the Catholic Church in our country has been extraordinary men and women who have understood the demanding challenge of Catholic faith. For over 160 years, Dubuque has been blessed with having one of the strongest faith- based educational systems in the entire Midwest. This legacy was crafted with love and devotion by countless religious women and priests, as well as lay teachers passionately devoted to the continuation of Catholic education in the City of Dubuque. Today Holy Family Catholic Schools employs over 350 people and serves all of the surrounding Catholic parishes. Archbishop Jerome G. HANUS
The growth of Catholic education for residents of the City of Dubuque began in the 1830s. In 1836 SAINT RAPHAEL'S CATHEDRAL SCHOOL, an all boys' institution was established in the basement of the cathedral by Father Samuel MAZZUCHELLI. (1) Teachers were laymen and laywomen. John J. E. Norman, one of the first teachers, later became the first superintendent of schools in Dubuque County. (2) In 1852 boys paid fifty cents per month tuition. (3)
Education for girls followed in the 1840s. In 1843 SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (BVM) established St. Mary's Day and Boarding Academy, a Catholic girls' school. Located in two frame buildings on the corner of West Third and Bluff, the school enrolled 120 students, fifty of whom were boarders. (4) Later in the year, the Sisters opened a free school adjacent to the present school building on that property. (5)
Catholic education in general continued to thrive in the 1850s. The BROTHERS OF CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION accepted Bishop Loras' invitation to come to Iowa and taught at St. Raphael's. (6) In 1851 ST. MARY'S SCHOOL, first known as Holy Trinity, began before the parish had a resident priest. Classes were held in the church basement. (7) The lay teachers were replaced by two Sisters of Charity when Father Edmonds was appointed pastor. Lay teachers returned to the school in 1855 during Father Lentner's pastorate. (8) In 1856 Sacred Heart School, later ST. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY opened on 14th Street in a building that had formerly been a hospital. The PANIC OF 1857 caused financial failure for many businesses and in 1858 St. Mary School was forced to close. (9) Bishop Clement SMYTH believed the public schools were prejudiced against the Catholics and did all he could to further parochial education. (10)
In 1860 St. Mary's School was again opened. (11) Improved financial conditions allowed the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1864 to construct a convent at St. Joseph Prairie ten miles southwest of Dubuque. They relocated their girls' boarding school there the same year. (12) In 1866 the first ST. ANTHONY'S SCHOOL, a one-room building, was staffed by one teacher until the arrival of the SISTERS OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (PBVM). (13) In 1868 Archbishop Hennessy wrote "Catholic Pay and Free School Association of the City of Dubuque." The acting pastor of the cathedral was to be the spiritual director and presiding officer of the board. The organization, however, was never active. (14)
In the 1871 Archbishop Hennessy suggested the development of an industrial school for girls in the former Loras home. The plan was not practical, and the home was used as a residence of girls working in the community. (15) ST. VINCENT'S ACADEMY, later called ST. COLUMBKILLE HIGH SCHOOL, opened its doors to forty students. Each student paid a tuition of twenty-five cents per month. (16) In 1879 four BROTHERS OF CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION come to Dubuque to teach at St. Raphael's School. (17) They only remained until 1884.
Catholic education in the 1880s began with a high school department for girls opening in 1880 at St. Columbkille. In 1881 Sacred Heart School enrolled 154 students to be taught by the Franciscan Sisters. In 1884 the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary built the new ST. MARY'S HIGH SCHOOL in Cathedral Square. The same year the old school building, Bishop Loras' home, was used by the Holy Ghost Sisters as a school. (18)
The 1890s witnessed Marquette Hall being added in 1891 to Sacred Heart School to eliminate overcrowding. St. Mary's Academy was closed in 1895. HOLY GHOST SCHOOL held its first classes in 1897 with 102 students enrolled in grades 1-9. In 1897 a new boy's school was constructed at ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH costing $18,000 and enrolling 28 boys. The following year an addition was constructed on St. Columbkille School. (19)
The enrollment at St. Mary's School reached 550 in 1900. Increasing enrollment led to the construction of a larger building for St. Joseph Academy the same year. A three-story building with eight classrooms, a laboratory, and a large auditorium replaced the original building. The ORDER OF SISTERS OF THE HOLY GHOST constructed a combination motherhouse and school at the northeast corner of St. Ambrose and Rosedale in 1901 and called it St. Aidan. An early form of co-education was observed in 1904 as St. Raphael's School was built at Emmett and Bluff STREETS. Boys occupied the south half of the building while girls were taught in the north half. There were separate entrances. In 1907 girls from St. Mary's in grades 6-8 received their education at IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ACADEMY at 17th and Iowa. The first year enrollment was twelve resident students and twelve day students who were taught by three Franciscan Sisters. 1907 also saw the organization of ST. MARY'S HIGH SCHOOL to prepare young men for the business world. For twenty-two years this was operated by the Brothers of Mary. In 1910 eighty-three students from Sacred Heart School walked up the street to their own school--Holy Trinity. (20)
Many developments occurred in Catholic education in Dubuque during the 1920s. In 1923 the dedication of Nativity School took place on December 23rd. Classes opened in 1924 with 425 students. In 1923 Dr. Wolfe, the diocesan superintendent of schools, requested co-education so that each teacher could devote their entire time to one grade. St. Anthony School was constructed in 1927 under the direction of Msg. O'Malley. Construction of a four-room brick school at St. Joseph, Key West was accomplished the same year through a private donation and matching funds by parishioners. St. Mary High School closed in 1929 while one of the first parish kindergartens in the city was opened at St. Columbkille School. (21)
In the 1930 a class of ninth-grade boys was started at Sacred Heart School. Two years later a tenth grade was added. Seventh and eighth grade girls from Nativity School began attending classes at ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION (THE) in 1930. This was continued until 1936 when a first at Visitation Academy forced the girls to return to Nativity for school. Holy Ghost Junior High School was organized in 1934 with 150 students in grades seven through eight. The first graduating class of St. Columbkille High School to include boys happened in 1935. (22)
In 1940 the Farber residence at 14th and Locust was purchased by St. Patrick's Church and converted into a school for primary grades. Girls of the parish who had attended St. Joseph Academy were transferred to the St. Patrick's parish school. The construction of St. Joseph parish was announced in 1949, the same year financial difficulties forced the closing of Sacred Heart High School. (23)
The school year at ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER CATHOLIC CHURCH began on September 13, 1950. The first graduating class of the school in 1951 consisted of 13 boys and 6 girls. The present St. Mary School building was constructed in 1951 with nine classrooms, an activity room, office, music studio, gymnasium and kitchen facilities. In 1952 lack of space caused the closing of Holy Ghost Junior High School. The following year with an enrollment over 900 students, Sacred Heart School became one of the largest in the Midwest. Construction in 1953 of a new building at St. Anthony School resulted in a school with ten classrooms, cafeteria, library, gymnasium, and health and administrative offices. As enrollment continued to increase at St. Joseph the Worker, the kindergarten was discontinued so the room could accommodate older students. Enrollment in parochial schools also increased as a result in 1953 of ST. MARY'S HOME sending some children to upper grades. On June 17, 1955 Archbishop Leo BINZ and pastors of Dubuque parishes met to discuss the future of high school education in Dubuque. Subsequent meetings and the awareness that existing buildings were old and inadequate for increasing enrollment led to the announcement of a quarter-million contribution toward the construction of a new high school. On July 16, 1956 a site was announced on Kane Street. The same year, a new grade school was dedicated at St. Columbkille and the grade school was discontinued at the Academy of the Visitation because of the many registrations for high school. (24)
The soaring enrollment in parochial schools continued into the 1960s. In 1964 an additional eight rooms were added to Resurrection School to double the original number of classrooms. In 1965 attendance figures showed: St. Raphael's, 278; St. Joseph the Worker, 641; 1,024 Wahlert High School; St. Patrick, 532; and NATIVITY SCHOOL, 904. The separation of girls and boys ended in 1966 while the enrollment of Wahlert reached 2,226. The Archdiocesan Board of Education was established in 1967. The same year the Steinmetz Building was completed and ready for St. Anthony School which had an enrollment of 1,082. RESURRECTION SCHOOL enrollment peaked in 1968 at 560 students. The change of St. Mary's Home to AREA RESIDENTIAL CARE, INC. occurred in 1969. (25)
The Academy of the Visitation closed in 1970 and St. Raphael School closed in 1976 due to declining enrollment. Countering this trend, Sacred Heart School kindergarten which had been discontinued in 1957 was reestablished. Holy Ghost School had a gymnasium constructed and before and after-school care programs were begun to meet the needs of working parents. From 1975 to 1983 the tuition at Holy Trinity was one hundred dollars annually. (26)
In 1982 St. Mary and St. Patrick schools were consolidated due to declining enrollments. St. Mary served as the kindergarten through third grade while St. Patrick served grades four through eight and housed the parish preschool. This consolidation was known as Downtown Catholic. Dominican Sisters staffed St. Joseph the Worker for the last time in 1986. In 1988 Holy Trinity-Sacred Heart School was formed as a pre-K through eighth grade consolidation. Both parishes operated the school. The same year, Downtown Catholic renamed itself St. Mary-St. Pat Elementary School to renew parish identification. (27)
Consolidation continued in 1993 as the parishes of ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, KEY WEST and St. Catherine combined their elementary education programs to form St. Joseph Catholic Consolidated School. The last Franciscan teacher left the staff of Holy Ghost School in 1996. Clarke College Professional Development School established a partnership in 1999 with St. Anthony and St. Mary-St. Pat School. Another partnership was formed with St. Anthony in 2005 to develop a music curriculum. (28)
Holy Family Catholic School was created in 2001. (29)
The year 2002 witnessed the first kindergarten class of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the only school to that date with a Spanish immersion program. St. Francis School was formed with the merger of Holy Trinity-Sacred Heart School with St. Mary-St. Pat. In two years the students of St. Francis relocated to Holy Ghost to form a consolidated elementary. (30)
---
Source:
1. Driscoll, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Justin A. With Faith and Vision: Schools of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, 1836-1966, Dubuque: Bureau of Education, Archdiocese of Dubuque, 1967, p. 2
2. Ibid.
3. "Building on Faith: Our Campaign to Benefit Holy Family Catholic Schools," Archdiocese of Dubuque, 2006
4. Driscoll, p. 2
5. Ibid.
6. Gallagher, Mary Kevin BVM. Seed/Harvest: A History of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Dubuque: Archdiocese of Dubuque Press, 1987, p. 15
7. Driscoll, p. 14
8. Ibid.
9. "Building on Faith: Our Campaign to Benefit Holy Family Catholic Schools,"
10. Gallagher, p. 18
11. Driscoll, p. 3
12. Ibid.
13. Driscoll, p. 45
14. Gallagher, p. 31
15. Gallagher, p. 30
16. "Building on Faith: Our Campaign to Benefit Holy Family Catholic Schools,"
17. Gallagher, p. 40
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.