St. Mary Story
Presently, St. Mary Catholic School is one of the largest Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Denver with over 500 students. The 3-year-old and 4-year-old preschool programs have a maximum of 20 students per class. Kindergarten through eighth grade, there are two classes per grade level with a maximum of 26 students per class.
1951
St. Mary Catholic School opened on September 4,1951 on South Nevada Street in Littleton, Colorado. Father Fred McCallin was instrumental in opening the school. After receiving a commitment from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Father McCallin opened the school with an initial enrollment of 110 students in grades one through six.
1954
The first graduation exercise for eighth grade was held and over the three years years additional classrooms and grades were added, and the By 1958, the school had thirteen classrooms, 700 students, seven religious, and six lay faculty members.
1962
Eventually, the small church and school on Nevada Street proved to be inadequate for the growing parish, and Father McCallin secured the Prince Street property. The new St. Mary Church was dedicated on September 13, 1962 with a new school for grades six through eight opening in 1964. Grades one through five remained at the Nevada Campus. At this time enrollment totaled 1,105 students, with ten Sisters and fifteen lay teachers. Kindergarten was added in the early 1970’s.
1993
Father Joseph Monahan came to St. Mary Parish in 1986. He envisioned an additional six classrooms, an art room and computer lab, and a multi-purpose room which would double as a school cafeteria. These projects were completed in 1993, and as changing times demanded smaller classes, the school enrolled 650 students on the two campuses, with approximately 24 students per class and three classes per grade level.
2001
Under the direction of Father David Blue Jacket, a major renovation to the Church was undertaken and dedicated on March 25, 2001, and a new Pre-K-1st grade addition to the school at the Prince Campus was completed for the 2006-2007 school year, thus consolidating the two campuses and initiating the Preschool.
2007
In 2007, Archbishop Chaput invited the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary to Colorado, placing St. Mary Catholic Church and School under their care. The Disciples brought to St. Mary a new vision for education based on an Educational Covenant through which parents, teachers, students and priests would work together to help the children to embrace a develop the vocation to greatness that God has placed within them.
2021
St. Mary became a “Virtue School” adding to the vision the education in virtues and a culture of academic excellence. In 2022 another step was taken to become an “inclusive school” where every student would be welcome and supported whatever their learning challenges might be.
2024
Currently, the pastor of St. Mary Parish and School is Fr. Andrej Makovnik, and the school principal is Fr. James De Cendra. The Disciples have two schools in Madrid and are currently building a new one in Connecticut. For more information on the Disciples, please visit their webpage: http://www.dcjm.org/en/.