ST. JOSEPH'S SCHOOL, KEY WEST

ST. JOSEPH'S SCHOOL, KEY WEST. When the SISTERS OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (PBVM) arrived at the parish in 1874, a district school was already in session with a certified teacher.

Dissatisfied with the education received by their children, parishioners requested Bishop John HENNESSY establish a parochial school. The first of the schools staffed by the Sisters was opened in the convent parlor on February 5, 1875.

In April 1875, Miss Alice Howley (later Sister Mary Josephine) assumed charge of the school in Key West. The enrollment was then eighty, with twenty-two non-Catholics. Religious instruction was provided by a Sister assigned to assist her. This frame school served the community until 1927 when, during the pastorate of Father Miller, a four-room brick building, the first parochial school was constructed.

In 1927 two Sisters taught forty students in eight grades. A third faculty member was added in 1941, and a fourth room was opened in 1944. Further expansion occurred in 1963 on land donated by Miss Josie Loes. The school's second lay teacher, Mrs. William Hutchins, joined the staff in September 1963, when the enrollment reached one hundred ninety. A teacher-aide program was started the same year involving the services of ten volunteer women. In 1965, 239 students were taught by six Sisters and three lay teachers.

St. Joseph's, located in 1990 at 10280 Key West Drive, donated 1.34 percent or $47,000 toward the building costs of WAHLERT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL.

For recent history, see: HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

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Source:

Driscoll, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Justin A. With Faith and Vision: Schools of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, 1836-1966, Dubuque: Bureau of Education, Archdiocese of Dubuque, 1967, p. 76