On September 15, 1915, St. Robert School opened its doors for the first time to 43 students in first through fourth grades. In anticipation of this milestone birthday on Tuesday, I have been reviewing our archived histories and am struck by three themes: first is the urgency our founding parishioners placed on starting a school; secondly, the remarkable speed with which they turned their dreams into reality; and, finally, the exponential rise and fall of the student population.
With humble seeds of inspiration from our founding pastor, Monsignor Farrel Reilly, along with the vocational services of the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters and financial resources raised through the then-new School Society endowment, our school opened less than a year and a half after the founding parishioners had moved into their first permanent church building (which you now recognize as the south end of the current school building). Two Dominican Sisters taught the four grades - and one of them, Sr. Aloysius Reilly, also served as principal!
From these modest beginnings, the ranks of students grew to three large class sections at each grade level by 1960, with a peak enrollment of over a thousand students. The building grew right along with them in two separate additions in 1927 and 1958. Over time, the domino effects of fewer religious sisters, a growing lay staff (who had to be paid!), the advent of tuition, and other complex impacts of the modern world led to population reduction in the 1980s. By 1986, most grade levels were once again reduced to a single section. Our last Dominican sister retired in 2003.
Recent years have witnessed a somewhat larger, more stable population along with rapid transformation of education and the world - and our legacy school has not been unaffected. Quite to the contrary, we have often been trailblazers in implementing educational innovations. Inkwells and abacuses have been replaced by mobile technology. Rows of desks bolted to the floor have made way for flexible collaborative furnishings. One-size textbook-and-drill instruction has nearly disappeared while personalized, evidence-based learning takes center stage. Why?
Because Monsignor Reilly charged the original faculty - and by extension all of us today - with "educat[ing] and sanctify[ing] children for Christian leadership in accordance with the teaching of Jesus Christ and the highest standards of knowledge and human ideals." Though the statement of this mission has undergone numerous structural changes throughout the decades, its essence remains remarkably unchanged. St. Robert School still serves as a parish ministry purposed with continuing the legacy of forming competent, ethical leaders who will build the Kingdom of God - and the best way to be sure our graduates will have the hearts and minds to transform the world is to give them a relevant, world-class education.
Since the first class of eleven graduated in 1920, nearly 6,000 saints and leaders have been sent forth from our halls to touch the future. As we prepare to launch our first digital "tech book" and design financially sustainable models for the future, I wonder... how many more blooms will Father Reilly's seeds yield?
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