St. Mary High School (Lake Leelanau, Michigan)

St. Mary of the Assumtion School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Lake Leelanau, Michigan. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaylord.

History

The school was established in 1887. The original two-story wooden building was destroyed by fire in the 1920s, and a two-story brick building was built in 1928. Based on the class photos dating to 1920 that hang on the first floor of the school, there has not been a graduating class of more than 25 students since. In the 1940s, the U.S. government no longer supported private schools, and the St. Mary school community decided to remain a private school.

Until the 1970s the main road through Lake Leelanau was Main Street. It ran past St. Mary school(In 2005 a gym was built on part of where it ran.) Then the road was moved to the north. This road in called M-204/Race/Duck Lake Road. The road begins and ends on to M-22. One end in Suttons Bay, the other south of Leland.

School today

The school system includes grades pre-kindergarten to grade 12. The 2006-07 academic year included 250 students.

In addition to the school itself, the property includes a former convent now used as offices, St. Mary of the Assumption church, a fieldstone gymnasium built in 1920, and a modern gymnasium opened in 2005.

* A former student of note is Fred Petrosky, a graduate of the school in the 1970s. He was a vice president of National Geographic Magazine for part of the 1990s.Fact|date=November 2007

* A writer in residence was Kathleen Stocking, an author of several books on the area including "Letters from the Leelanau". She taught at the school from 1994-96.

* During the 1994-95 school year, Will Case-Daniels, a Suttons Bay artist, taught art at St. Mary to all ages of students.

School events include~

A Valentines' dinner & dance, a golf-a-thon, a chicken dinner & homecoming in August.

External links

* [http://www.stmarysll.org/ School Website]

References