On June 5, 2017, the Little Saints Daycare was opened at SS. Andrew-Thomas School in Potosi. It currently serves 62 children from six weeks to 12 years old, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Here Jessica Welch, assistant director and lead preschool teacher, works with some of the children. (Contributed photo) | ||
POTOSI — SS. Andrew-Thomas School in Potosi — the oldest Catholic school in the Diocese of Madison and in Wisconsin — is celebrating 175 years of continuous Catholic school education in Potosi and Tennyson.
A special anniversary celebration will be held on Sunday, May 6, starting with a 10 a.m. Mass followed by a performance of an original SS. Andrew-Thomas play written by one of the parishioners.
Following the performance will be a free dinner for the public.
“We are excited,” said Principal Deb Pfab of the plans for the 175th anniversary celebration.
“A Catholic school has existed in this area continuously since 1843,” noted Michael Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison. “2018 marks 175 years of continuous Catholic school education in the Tennyson/Potosi area (even though the school names and locations have changed over that time). That means that Catholic schools have been in the area longer than they have been anywhere else in the state.”
History of school
In sharing the school’s history, Pfab noted that although Venerable Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, founded the parish of St. Thomas in Potosi, it was his successor, Fr. James Causse, who established the first school in 1843.