Norwalk Catholic Schools
FCEDO

The Norwalk Catholic Schools, in partnership with family, alumni, parish and community support, provide excellent educational opportunities for individual spiritual and intellectual growth while preparing each student for a life of Christian responsibility and service.

The first Catholic school was a log school house built in 1833 at St. Alphonsus, Peru, three miles south of Norwalk. From then on, where there was a Catholic church, there was a Catholic school, true testimony to us today of the importance our ancestors placed on Catholic education.

Catholic children attended school in the basement of the first Catholic church in Norwalk, St. Peter's, built in 1843. Later, a seperate school building was built next to the church. When Irish immigrants moved into the area, they built St. Mary's Church in 1865. It, too, included a school. St. Peter's Church grew, relocated and became St. Paul's. A two-story church and school were built and opened at Christmastime in 1876. The Sisters of Notre Dame staffed the school and faithfully serve at St. Paul and St. Mary still today.

As the area grew, new schools were built to continue the mission of the church. The Fisher brothers financed the construction of a new parish school at St. Paul as well as other parish and school facilities in the early 1920's. St. Paul High School was officially chartered by the state of Ohio as a four-year high school program in January of 1923.

By the 1950's, the baby boom compelled both St. Mary and St. Paul to expand their educational facilities. The tradition of dedication and remarkable support for the schools continued. Many of us had a dream come true, which speaks to this tradition, when the new St. Paul Convocation Center opened in 1994.

In the Spring of 2005, Norwalk Catholic community pastors, Father Frank Kehres, and Father Frank Speier convened a group of Catholic school & parish leaders to discuss the future of Catholic schools in Norwalk. This was the beginning of a thorough study of the schools which included parish meetings, and organizing a steering committee to address the issues and plan the future of Catholic education in Norwalk.

After much study involving hundreds of people serving on several subcommittees, a plan for the unification of St. Mary and St. Paul schools was presented to Bishop Blair. The Bishop gave his approval and in January 2006, a governing board was formed to implement the plan to unite the schools. This innovative, progressive, proactive plan will secure the future of Catholic education in Norwalk.

In the Fall of 2006, Norwalk Catholic School will open its doors to students and their families. The united school will provide for the needs of families today with an Early Childhood Center offering preschool, kindergarten readiness, kindergarten, and before and after school care at the St. Mary Campus. The Norwalk Catholic School Elementary (grades 1-6) will be located at the St. Paul Campus. The Norwalk Catholic School Junior High (grades 7 & 8) will be housed on a self-contained level of the new addition to St. Paul High. With new state-of-the-art science labs, library, computer lab and classrooms, St. Paul High School will continue to offer a high quality education at the Norwalk Catholic School.