HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL 56407 MAYFLOWER RD.  SOUTH BEND, INDIANA  46619   574-289-7375

HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL HISTORY

Ground was broken on Sunday, September 21, 1953 for the new $350,000 parish school by Father Joseph Lesniak. The school was South Bend’s fourteenth Catholic grade school and stood on more than five acres of ground just south of the church building. Peter Schumacher & Sons of Mishawaka were awarded the contract to meet the needs of the fast growing parish organized in 1945 and, in 1953 consisted of 750 families.

The original school consisted of eleven classrooms, administrative offices, nurse’s room, music room, and three of the classrooms on the top floor would be used as temporary quarters for the nuns. The school provided room for children of the parish who had been attending special Saturday religious classes in the basement of the church for the past few years. Over 200 children were enrolled in that first year at Holy Family School, which officially began on September 24, 1954.

Since that first day of school in 1954, many children have passed through the halls of the school building where they have learned and used their knowledge to build a future for themselves and for this parish. An addition was added to the school in 1956 to make more room for more students as well as a “chapel” to make room available for an extra Sunday mass. In 1995, the sisters had moved into a house across the street from the school to again make more classroom space available.

Enrollment is higher than it has been in quite a long time and with the effective leadership of principal Sister Joan Marie and an excellent faculty, Holy Family School is ready to accept the challenge of educating students into the twenty-first century.

Holy Family Catholic School opened its doors on September 8, 1954. Since that day, over 1,700 children have graduated with the values of a Catholic education. But, the school is more than the progression of a student from Kindergarten through Grade Eight. It is a place where academic excellence has been the norm for fifty years and counting. It is a place where lasting friendships are made, and lasting memories are cultivated.

1954 - left to right - Frank DeNeve, Ed Jaworski, Jack Sumption, Joseph VanOverberghe, John Lies

School 1957 - 1958