About

History of St. Raphael
School

      On January 21, 1951, Auxiliary Bishop John P. Cody officiated
at the ground breaking for the St. Raphael the Archangel School.  Despite the restrictions of the Korean War,
school construction proceeded rapidly; and the two-story building opened on September 12, 1951, with
337 students.  The School Sisters of
Notre Dame staffed the school with Sr. Mary Clarice Desaulniers as principal.  By 1965 enrollment reached 390, reflecting
the number of young families in the parish. 
After the new church building opened in 1967, work began to convert the
old church area into a gym that opened on September 7, 1969. 

      The 1970s saw the withdrawal of the School
Sisters of Notre Dame.  The last Notre
Dame sister, principal Sr. Susan Marie Hoffman, left in 1979.  The new lay principal, Mr. Glennon Mertens,
guided the school from 1979 to 1996. 
Reflecting the end of the baby boom, school enrollment dropped to a low
of 124 in 1980 before rising to 191 in 1995. 
In 2001 the parish embarked on a capital campaign to improve the
school.  Construction began in the summer
of 2002 and the additions saw completion by September 2003.  At the north end of the building, a new wing
added science and computer rooms and additional classroom space.  A new east entrance gave the school an expanded
administrative area, modernized restrooms, and an elevator that provides
handicapped accessibility to all four levels of the school complex.  In 2009 pastor Msgr. Henry Breier announced
plans to begin a pre-school program in the fall of 2010.