Our History

On September 8, 1914 Sacred Heart School opened its doors to one hundred thirty-five students. The first school was housed in the newly renovated church. The church was located in the basement and the four room school was located on the first level. In August of 1914, six sisters of the Order of St. Benedict from St. Joseph, MN began the ministry of Benedictine Sisters in Staples.

In 1923, the school proved to be too small for the growing parish. In the spring of 1924, a meeting was held and the decision was made to construct a new school. Action was taken immediately. The old school was taken down and the new brick building was completed in a few months. The first floor of the new school was designed with a large auditorium in the center with six classrooms, each with their individual entrance to the outside.

The school was near closing in 1933 due to debts of the church. The number of classrooms and teachers were reduced instead.

In 1948, the parish began to operate their own school bus, the first in Minnesota. This made it possible for children who lived in the country to attend Sacred Heart School. This brought the average enrollment of the school to 250 students. The kitchen, moved to the church basement, and the KC room were turned into classrooms to accommodate the large amount of students.

For the first 52 years, students were enrolled in grades one through eight. In 1966 grades seven and eight were dropped.
Due to efforts of Father Lauren Germann, a kindergarten program was begun and in 1997 a building was purchased and renovated for the first preschool for the parish.

Written by RoAnn Trout

SHAS alumni and teacher for 30+ years