OUR HISTORY

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In the year 1898, the first school was erected at the corner of 16th Street and Parker Street in North Little Rock, formerly called Baring Cross or Argenta. Initially, this school was to serve the Catholic soldiers stationed at Fort Logan H. Roots, a short distance away. The community was established to serve twenty families and their children living in close proximity to the church.

Early archives are scanty until 1905. Fr. Robert J. Jenne reported to the Bishop on February 2, 1905 that the church was well filled on Sundays and that there were 35-40 students at school. Fr. Jenne was instrumental in obtaining the Olivetian Benedictines Sister of Jonesboro to staff St. Mary’s School. Fr. McManus was appointed pastor of St. Mary’s in November 1905 and remained until October 1909. In October 1906 he reported to the Bishop that “pew rents are going well and there were 62 children in school.”

Fr. Peter Baertodziej was pastor of St. Mary’s in 1912. He taught Religion class to the students and worked with the Altar Servers. He requested the Benedictine Sisters of Shoal Creek to staff the school. Sisters Martha Charitas and Mercedes arrived in August of 1912. Under Fr. Bartodziej’s direction it took only a short time for the debt of the school to be paid off. Even though conditions were very poor an addition to the school was built. The school continued to grow until it suffered a serious setback in 1923 when there was a railroad strike and some families were forced to move away in search of employment. In 1925, a new church and school building was built. This was a two story building with the church upstairs and the school downstairs. In November 1926, the new church and school were dedicated. In 1928 Fr. Bartodziej built a two story rectory that housed Kindergarten.

On May 24, 1957, the second floor of the school was converted into a parish hall. In May 1962, Fr. Desmond purchased a lot and the house adjoining the school property on the corner of 15th and Moss Streets to expand the playground of the school. The present school now sits on this site. The turn of the century schoolhouse was moved and stands less than 100 yards west of the present church. It is disguised in yellow.

Between 1970-72 the old brick school was torn down. The community had expanded to such an extent that the need for a new school was foreseen. After much sacrifice and hard work the present school was built in 1973. In August 1974 the school auditorium was blessed by Bishop Andrew J. McDonald (which now houses the St. Mary’s Library, Computer Lab, Kindergarten and Pre-K classrooms). In 1998, an addition consisting of the Parish Center and Jr. High School was built and dedicated in memory of Msgr. Charles Kordesmier. In November 1993, St. Mary’s Church erected a sign in front of St. Mary’s School. The sign surrounded the original cross which topped the 1926 church.

The Benedictgine Sisters of Fort Smith taught in the school until 1925 when the sisters of Mercy took over the school. The sisters of Mercy from St. Patrick’s came each day to teach St. Mary's children. Sisters Pia, superior, M. Agatha, Mary Agatha, Mary Fredoline and Edeltrudis taught at the school in the two room cottage next to the church and lived at 1201 West 16th Street.

In May 1960, Mary Parker became the first lay teacher. She taught fifth and sixth grade students. At this time there were no Non-Catholic students in the school. The Sisters of Mercy continued to serve the school through 1978. The Sisters of Mercy left St. Mary’s School in 1978 after 53 years of service to St. Mary’s children.

The first lay principal Mr. Jeff Huddleston served from 1978-1979 followed by Mr. W. R. Little from 1979-1980. Mrs. Pauletta Rossie was appointed principal for 1981-1983. From 1983-1989 Mrs. Rose Schlatter served as principal and at this time all the teachers were laity. Rms. Carla Selig served as principal from 1990-1993. Mrs. Denise Troutman became principal in 1994 and continues to serve. Under her leadership a four year old program was added in 1995.

In 2006, the National Catholic Education Association was engaged to design a planning process for the nine elementary and two Catholic schools in Pulaski County. The study began with a careful analysis of academic, demographic, economic, enrollment, financial, parish and staffing data related to the schools. Large group meetings, involving representatives from these parish and school communities were also held in order to review the data, identify the critical issues facing the schools and develop preliminary solutions. All of this material was turned over to the members of a Regional Planning Committee, appointed by Bishop Sartain.

The Regional Planning committee evaluated the enrollment trends, academics, staffing and school finances and developed strategic plan recommendations to the schools, parishes and pastors in the spring 2006. A vision statement for Catholic schools was developed in order to ensure the future of the Catholic schools in the region. The recommendation showed there needed to be a shift in thinking from a parochial mindset- where all decisions and responsibility are local- to a “systems” approach that recognizes that Catholic schools are the responsibility of the entire Catholic community as stated by the United States catholic Conference of Bishops in 1990 and which acknowledges the need for ongoing collaboration, in order to maximize limited resources.

In order to apply the vision of a “systems” approach the committee recommended that a board be established to oversee the reconfiguration of St. Mary and St. Patrick schools given the financial and enrollment challenges facing these schools. The enrollment trends for both schools and the demographic data supported that these two schools would not be able to exist as two entities in the future. The two schools were located within one mile of each other and the population in the area had shifted. The two parishes were not experiencing an increase in growth therefore limiting the number of eligible students for the future. The statistical data also showed that St. Mary, St. Patrick and Immaculate Conception were actually in competition as evident from the zip code data collected.

In fall 2006, with the blessings of Msgr. Gaston Hebert, administrator for the diocese, and Fr. Warren Harvey, pastor of St. Mary and St. Patrick, a strategic planning committee consisting of parish members, school personnel, and school parents from St. Patrick and St. Mary was appointed to begin the study of the feasibility to reconfigure the two schools.

The diocese offered support in facilitating the process and also in assessing the financial stability of both schools. St. Mary’s school was stable but had approximately $25,000 in deficit spending for 2005-06. Fortunately the school had reserve funds that could be accessed. St. Patrick’s school had expended all their endowment principal and the projected deficit spending at the end of the 2005-06 school year would be approximately $316,000. It became apparent that the parish would be financially unable to assist with this deficit. St. Patrick received a loan from the diocese to continue its final year of operation.

From early November through the end of January committees met on a regular basis to assess and plan for the future of the two schools. Early in the discussion it became evident the reconfiguration needed to be a priority.

The following committees were established to assess the possibility of keeping both campuses operational: Finance, Marketing, Program Development and Facility. The committees met multiple times from October 2006 through January 2007. The Office of Catholic Schools provided funding to bring in consultants from the National Catholic Education Association to provide direction for finances and board structure.

In January 2007, the decision to maintain two campuses with PK -5 at St. Mary’s site and 6-8 at St. Patrick’s site and retaining the two administrators for the following school year was recommended provided that the K-8 enrollment reach 260 students. The committee recommended the new configuration be called North Little Rock Catholic Academy. A new board was established with representation from both St. Mary and St. Patrick parishes and school families.

After completing registration in February, the school was on target with enrollments. However, in August 2007 the enrollment dropped due to families making the decision to leave for other schools. This created a situation of deficit spending for the 2007-08 school year. If families from both schools had remained, the enrollment would have been 330 students. The enrollment for 2007-2008 under the new configuration was 233 for K-8 (281 Pre K -8). In July 2008, consignor Jack Harris, pastor of St. Patrick and St. Mary parish wrote a letter to the diocese requesting a loan to meet payroll for the remainder of the 2007-08 school year. The total amount requested was $95,889.33. The school was given $23,396.35 from the 2007-08 CASA Grant distribution. $2,500.00 from estate proceeds for school related purposes from St. Patrick was given to the school for operational expenses. This left a total loan balance of $69,992.98.

After assessing the financial status in May 2008, the pastor, Msgr. Jack Harris in consultation with the superintendent made the decision to move all students back to the campus at St. Mary for the beginning of the 2008 school year. The school retained the name of North Little Rock Catholic Academy even though the campus is located at St. Mary Parish.

Msgr. Harris was moved to another parish in April 2008 and Fr. Jose Uppani became the new pastor.

The school continues to serve families from areas outside the parish zip code. The enrollment for 2009-2010 for PK-8 was 230 students. During the past 100 years St. Mary’s School has grown from serving 20 families to many families and from teaching 35 students to teaching 230 students in Pre-Kindergarten three year olds through eighth grades at the newly renamed North Little Rock Catholic Academy. 

Today our mission remains largely unchanged from that of the Sisters in the nineteenth century: to instill love in our students for Christ their Savior according to Catholic Christian principles while also providing a rigorous curriculum designed to prepare graduating students for advanced high school programs. Our school welcomes families from a vast variety of backgrounds, and through the diversity of its student body and staff, students learn in an environment that mirrors the world they will inhabit as adults. Our school strives to strengthen the faith of its students and nurture a curiosity across the curriculum that will lead them to be problem solvers who maintain their sense of childhood joy in hope of an unlimited future.