MADISON — One of the oldest Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison will conclude a year of observing its 115th birthday with a celebration Sunday, June 5, at the church and school, 1204 St. James Ct., Madison.
Msgr. Thomas Baxter, retired, and Fr. David Carrano, pastor, will concelebrate Mass at 10:30 a.m., followed by brunch and school open house.
School alumni and friends are invited “to reminisce, celebrate and pray together.”
The cost is $10 for brunch, mimosas, entertainment, and a gift.
Reservations are due by Friday, May 20, and can be made on the “Alumni & Friends” page of the school website: www.stjamesschool.org/alumni or by calling 608-268-9935.
New church and school
St. James Parish, now part of Good Shepherd Parish, was started in 1905 when Holy Redeemer Parish and School, located just off the Capitol Square, became too small for the large number of parishioners and children attending the school.
Its pastor proposed the creation of the new parish to be located less than 1.5 miles away in the area called Greenbush.
The new church and school were completed on February 3, 1906, and on the following day, a Low Mass was offered at 8 a.m. and a High Mass with a sermon at 10 a.m.
The next day, Mother Marianne of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), Milwaukee, officially opened the school with 86 children in two classrooms.
On June 28, 1908, eight pupils obtained their diplomas.
One hundred and fifteen years later, at least seven school families claim roots to the original school.
Its principal, Randy Enders, is a descendant of the first families.
His great-aunt Cora Enders was a first grader in 1907 and lived until 2003, just short of turning 103. She served as parish secretary for years.
At the start of the 1920s, the parish was considered “one of the finest of Madison’s Catholic communities.”
In 25 years, the parish had grown from 85 to 400 families.
The original building, with the church on the first floor and classrooms on the second floor, was turned over to the school, and a new church built.
Romanesque in architecture, the new church was completed in 1924 and described as one of the finest in southern Wisconsin.
On to the 1940s and 1950s
The 1940 school year started out with 402 students and a full staff of School Sisters of Notre Dame.
In 1945, Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison was established, and a year later, the Diocese of Madison was formed with Bishop William O’Connor named the first bishop.
The 1950s saw an increase in enrollment from 320 students in 1950 to 450 by the end of the decade.
The parish voted to build a new school, and at the end of the 1957-58 school year, the old school was torn down and construction on a new school began.
Interfaith cooperation
Because the school would not be done in time for the start of the school year, the parish needed space.
Fortunately, the Beth Israel Jewish community offered the use of its nearby synagogue.
The interfaith cooperation made national news. The local papers reported on the arrangement with one of the papers headlining it as “Brotherhood in Practice.”
The foundation for the friendship started years before when Jewish and Catholic families lived together in what was known as “the bush.”
The synagogue and St. James Church and School were located a short walk from the Greenbush neighborhood, loosely bound by Regent, Park, and W. Washington Sts., now called the Triangle. There, many recent immigrants — Russian Jews, Italian Catholics, and African Americans — lived.
Life in the 1960s and 1970s
The new St. James School building, dedicated in January 1959, soon experienced growing pains.
Among the families in the neighborhood were the Faheys (10), the Hebls (17), the Tillers (11), the DiMaggios (13), and the Wrights (14).
Alum Jim Schneider remembers that there were 54 kids living on Pine St., just off Park St., in the 1950s and 1960s, and nearly all of them went to St. James.
The 1960-61 school year started with 481 students, but by 1969, enrollment dropped to 241.
Fr. William DeBock (later to be named a monsignor) provided strong leadership during the 1970s to the school and parish which continued to undergo changes and challenges corresponding with societal changes.
With more college students moving into the neighborhood and more families moving to newer developments out of the city, the school became less of a neighborhood school during this decade.
Father DeBock advised parishioners that non-Catholics would be welcome to attend the school.
In June 1976, a proposal to close the school for financial reasons was rejected. That fall, parishioners started paying tuition. Non-parishioners had already been paying tuition.
Urban renewal
Renewal of the Greenbush area by the city caused the move of St. Joseph Church to the very south edge of the city of Madison.
St. Raphael School closed at the end of the 1969-70 school year. Nearby Holy Redeemer had already closed its school. St. Patrick School closed after the 1976-77 school year.
Longfellow School (a Madison public school) closed in 1980, leaving St. James as the only elementary school in the downtown and campus area of the city.
Reporting on the closure of Longfellow, the Capital Times said that most of St. James’ 150 students were from Fitchburg, the other side of the Beltline Highway, the coliseum area, and Bayview.
Free public school busing was a plus for the families who moved to new developments in Fitchburg.
By the end of the 1970s, no more School Sisters of Notre Dame came to teach at St. James.
Frances Sauer, a former member of the Sisters of Charity of Providence, served as principal until Sr. Carmella Pierick, OP, former superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Madison, took over in 1988.
Dominican Principals
In 1991, there were 195 students enrolled in the school from 125 families, 94 of which were parish families, 12 families from other Catholic parishes, and 19 non-Catholic families. One-quarter of the enrollment were students of color.
The diversity was an asset, and the school celebrated its multiculturalism, including a Cultural Arts Day in the spring. Sister Carmella retired as principal in 1993 when another Dominican Sister, Sr. Kathleen Loughrin, OP, became principal.
As the only school in the “inner city,” parents who worked downtown or on campus or in one of the two nearby hospitals appreciated the school’s location near their workplace.
Being close to Edgewood High School and College and the University of Wisconsin also was an advantage for young and older students alike, giving employment and volunteer opportunities for the high school and college students.
Msgr. Tom Baxter returned to St. James as pastor in 2003 succeeding Msgr. Doug Dushack. Both were fondly known as Father Tom and Father Doug. Father Tom had served as assistant to Monsignor DeBock from 1979 to 1991.
Parish merger
In 2012, St. James and St. Joseph merged to become Good Shepherd Parish. By the time of the merger, children from St. Joseph, now located off the South Beltline, had been attending St. James School for more than 35 years.
With the merger, the school benefitted from the strong Latino worship community with Padre Manuel Mendez as parochial vicar and Denice Jimenez as Latino Ministry assistant.
“Teaching true Christian values along with solid academic education has provided a strong foundation for our families over the decades.”
The quote, attributed to Carol Russell Marshall, could have been said by any number of multi-generational St. James School graduates.
“St. James School is a family tradition for our family since its beginning,” said Marshall. She and her late husband Reven “Jack” Marshall attended the school in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Her mother, Mary Endres Russell, and her brothers and sisters went to the original school, and the Marshall children and grandchildren attended as well in the 21st century.
The school serves children from three-year-old preschool to eighth grade and offers an enriched after-school childcare program.
To learn more about the history of the school, go to the parish website at www.thegoodshepherd madison.org and click on “St. James School 115th Anniversary.”
Interviews and photos are included for each of the decades of the school, as well as a special focus on the School Sisters of Notre Dame who were the first teachers.