Saint Andrew Parish is blessed to have a Catholic School that was founded in the year 1902. When it was first established, it was Sister Mary Theodata who served as principal. She was a woman religious from the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary of the Woods Indiana, founded by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. The current active community of the Sisters of Providence has more than 250 sisters serving in 17 states and in Asia.
From 1902 until the early 1980s, the school was staffed by the Sisters of Providence. In total, nearly 500 women worked as the teachers and administrators of the school. At first the school was located on the corner of Hermitage and Addison where the current Auditorium building sits. The sisters lived in a house next door, immediately to the east of the school. Then the original church was immediately to the east of the sister’s convent, and the rectory where the priests lived was the farthest building to the east on the corner of Addison and Paulina.
Early Sisters at Saint Andrew
Through the care and guidance of the Sisters of Providence, the school grew steadily. It was at it’s largest population in the year 1960 when it had 1,370. Without their dedication and support, the school would not have been a viable institution and would not be with us today.
Sisters of Providence from Providence High School
