Ninety years ago, Saint Stanislaus Kostka School opened its doors to educate the hearts and minds of children of parish families. The world in 1913 was indeed different from our world today. The majority of parishioners were employed in the local textile mills. Moms and Dads worked long hours and raised large families. Pleasures in life were simple. Luxuries, such as vacations, cruises, and national or international travel were beyond the realm of imagination for these early twentieth-century folk. What mattered most to them was their Catholic faith, pride in their family, and observance of dearly held traditions, which they brought over from their central European culture.

In classrooms where teacher-to-student ratio often exceeded one to fifty, in a school building heated by coal, youngsters learned about the love of God, the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary and their Guardian Angels, and the need for prayer, the sacraments, and worship in their daily lives. They learned the importance of honesty and the value of trust. Morals were modeled in the home and taught in school by religious Sisters who dedicated their lives to the Christian education of children.

And in this atmosphere of faith, the children worked hard to master reading, mathematics, geography, and civics, all the while writing their assignments in the most perfect penmanship imaginable. Graduates of the school usually found themselves head and shoulders above their peers in terms of preparation for academic success in high school and beyond.

Amidst the change, St. Stanislaus Kostka School has remained the same “where it counts.” The Catholic faith, the pride in family, and the dearly held traditions which came over with our ancestors are alive and well in the life of the school. These values give our present day students the reason, the discipline, and the drive to work for excellence on a personal, parish, civic and global family level. Family members join the administration and faculty in modeling honesty, service, and dedication as they work together to prepare the children to be moral leaders in the Church and the twenty-first century world.

Education of the mind and heart. That was St. Stanislaus Kostka School of the past. That is the mission of the present. Let us proudly go forward!

Sr. Jacqueline Mary Kazanowski, CSSF