St. Mary's Catholic School (Temple, Texas)

Infobox School2
name = St. Mary's Catholic School
patron saint = St Mary
mascot = Falcon
established = 1897
type = Roman Catholic.
head_name = Principal
head = Dr. Ardelle Hamilton
city = Temple
state = TX
country = USA
school_colours = Royal blue, red, and white
website = [http://www.stmarys-temple.org]

St. Mary's Catholic School or SMS is a Roman Catholic co-educational school, PreK-8, located in Temple, Texas.

History

St. Mary's School was founded in 1897 under the name of St. Mary's Academy by Father Heckmann, pastor of St. Mary's Church. Under his direction, with the active support of a dedicated group of parishioners, Divine Providence Sisters guided the pupils for several years. The Divine Providence Sisters withdrew in 1912 and not until 1919 could teaching sisters be found to continue their good work. Sisters of the Congregation of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament from Houston, Texas, began their mission at St. Mary's School in 1919 and had a presence in the school until the retirement in May 1995 of long-time librarian, Sister James Philip Davison. In 1974, Mrs. Loris Edwards became the first lay principal.

Today, the school is staffed by lay teachers who —together with the clergy, parents, and students— work for its uninterrupted growth and success to the greater honor and glory of God.

Mission

"Our primary role is to continuously form our students through a Catholic program of education committed to a standard of excellence.

We help students to develop their spiritual, moral, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical abilities within a community dedicated to living the gospel.

In cooperation with the family, we help students to form character, so they will accept responsibility to fulfill their personal potential and learn to share their gifts through love for all."

Academics

St. Mary's prides itself on academics, and is a presence at the PSIA tournaments every year. It itself has hosted the academic competitions several times at its school.

Buildings

The school is divided up into two interwoven campuses, the Reagan campus and the Parish campus. The Parish campus was the home for the school for almost 100 years. The school, because of a rise in its student body, acquired a recently closed down elementary school directly across the street. This building was Reagan Elementary, and is now the current home of the school. Several functions, such as basketball games are still held in the Parish campus, but most activities take place in the Reagan building. Plans exist to expand the Reagan building even more, for the school is quickly running out of room.