St. Anthony School, on the northeast corner of 7th and Wolcott Street, opened in September 1927 with 201 students in grades one through six. A seventh grade opened in 1928 and an eighth grade in 1929. The first graduating class (1930) had thirty three students. The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary were the first faculty members and served the school for a period of fifty-three years. In 1980, the first lay-principal took over the management of the school. In 1985, from a faculty of 31, only two teaching Sisters remained.
Due to the increasing enrollment (500), a new addition to the school was added in August 1950. It provided room for six more classrooms, a kindergarten, a library, an auditorium-gym, and a shower and locker room. Also added, were the public address system, a wireless master-clock system, and green chalkboards. Enrollment peaked at 815 in 1957.
In 1983, St Anthony’s School was established as a tri-parish school. St. Anthony Church, Our Lady of Fatima, and St. Patrick Church each provide annual financial operating support. The school, in 1985, received a very generous donation to add on to the building. The addition included enhancements to the library, more classrooms, a science laboratory, and administrative offices.
When the Sisters of Charity managed the school, there were no tuition charges. As management transitioned to lay people, tuition was charged to pay for salaries and benefits. Student scholarships were initiated to assist families of students without the means to enroll in the school. In 2000 the school implemented a major campaign to raise $3 million for an endowment that would provide on-going scholarships and improve teacher salaries for the school. The Edge Fund campaign successfully ended in 2004. During this time the St. Anthony School Foundation was incorporated to provide acceptance, investment management, and distribution of gifts in order to foster and promote long-term financial viability and continuation of St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School. From 2011-2018 the St. Anthony Joy Fund was established and raised $7 million for establishment of the endowment to provide annual scholarship assistance.
In the early 2000s, it became evident that the aging school building would no longer meet the needs and standards of educating in the 21st century. As a land locked entity, it was financially impractical to expand and refurbish at the current site, therefore Our Lady of Fatima generously allowed the construction of the new Tri-Parish School on their land located on 20th Street. Within a 13 month period, the new school building was constructed and then opened in September 2010. The support of the generous community enabled the new school facility to be built debt free. The 70,000 square foot campus incorporates a state of the art environmental, technological and aesthetically pleasing design. The new school is capable of a 350 student population grades preschool through 8th grade.
Throughout the history, quality education has always been the first and foremost goal. The school’s orginal motto was “For God and Country” and today the mission statement of the school is “St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School is dedicated to achieving academic excellence in a faith filled community, living a life committed to Christian service”. It is a family-like, caring, safe community in which faculty and staff make a concerted effort to know every child and are committed to partnering with parents in the education of their children. Gospel-based values are imparted by example and through instruction, prayer, and service. It is a school that is small enough to address the needs of each child and yet large enough to offer a challenging and successful academic program.
