A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAINT
CHARLES SCHOOL
On May 15, 1954, Bishop
Eugene J. McGuinness established St. Charles Borromeo Parish.
Father Charles A. Beckman became the first pastor.
The parish hall was named after him.
Construction of the
combination church, school and convent began in November of 1954.
Mass was celebrated for the first time in Beckman Hall on
Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1955.
The school began its continuous education work for the community in
September 1955 with three Carmelite Sisters teaching 115 children in
four classrooms. The
first principal was Sister Elizabeth of the Carmelite Order.
In 1956, four Sisters of Charity took over the teaching
assignment at the school.
The first 8th graders, 15 in number, graduated on May 27,
1957.
A school addition of five
more classrooms, library, "clinic", and full basement was started
May 1959, and completed four months later.
The faculty rose to six sisters and two lay teachers with an
enrollment of 290 students.
It seems that from the beginning, education has been one of the
prime considerations of our parish.
By the mid-sixties six
sisters and four lay teachers were providing the teaching.
Classes were large with almost 400 students enrolled.
PTC was very active, and book fair, art competitions, spelling
bees, organized athletics, and fund raising were in full swing.
However, by 1970, there were
serious doubts concerning the future operation of the school due to
the Sisters of Charity no longer being available to staff the
school.
Their religious community was reduced in number and their
services called them elsewhere.
During this time of uncertainty, enrollment dwindled, but not for
long. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, since classes had
been so large in the past.
Now they could become more manageable.
Once again, the Carmelite Sisters came to the rescue and agreed
to staff the school as they had that very first year it was
established. Four
sisters filled administrative and teaching positions, along with
five lay teachers. The
enrollment was about 200 at this time.
With Sister Joseph Marie as principal, the school gained momentum
and enrollment stabilized.
In the late seventies and
early eighties, St. Charles School continued to grow and evolve into
the institution we know and love today. Under the leadership of
Father James Kastner and past principal, Dr. Santo Arico, our school
prospered and our faith community continued to blossom.
Our school saw the addition
of an enrichment center, new library, and learning lab.
More improvements were accomplished due to the hard work and
dedication of our school patrons. Among these improvements were the
first kindergarten, air-conditioning of all the classrooms, the "Big
Toy", first computer, and more athletic programs.
We can be proud of these many modernizing accomplishments, but
more importantly, proud of our children and all their
accomplishments in speech tournaments, spelling and geography bees,
art, history and music competitions, and athletic endeavors.
Each year new programs are
developed to help in our growth as a school community.
Such programs include: a full-day preschool, a half-day
preschool, a band program, an extended day program from 3:00 - 6:00
pm for working parents, a computer lab, and children’s choir.
We can take even more pride
in seeing our children develop into fine Christian members of our
faith community. From 1970 to the present, our 8th graders scored well above
national and Archdiocesan averages on a test of Christian Attitudes
and Catholic Doctrine.
Their scores on national academic achievement tests also rank above
the national average.
It is apparent that we as parents and our teaching staff are doing a
great job.
