Part IV - Education, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.



St. Mary School is located on Marion near the intersection of Williams which St. Peter School operates from a facility near Highland View Cemetery on Bellevue. (PIONEER/Jim Bruskotter)

ST. MARY, ST. PETER SCHOOLS BOTH ESTABLISHED FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY

Education in Big Rapids had long offered parents a religious option for their children - and in more than one denomination.

St. Peter's Lutheran School

St. Peter's Lutheran School began in 1871 when one of the first pastors Rev. C.L. Wuggazer, began conducting a school in his home.

The next year, 1872, the congregational passed a resolution requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 14 to attend the school. Classes took place in the church until the early 1900's, when a one-room schoolhouse was constructed.

St. Peter's Lutheran School continued operations without interruption until the 1919-1920 school year, when classes did not take place due to the lack of a teacher. The school reopened in September of 1920. Eight years later, 1928, it was filled to capacity - 61 children. The congregation considered enlarging the school, but abandoned the idea the next year due to the Great Depression.

In 1948, St. Peter's saw an expansion from the one-room school. The congregation turned the church basement into a classroom and hired a second teacher.

While the congregation coukld see the school would grow, there was no space for such growth. Then in 1951, a new building with four classrooms, a hall and a gymnasium was dedicated. Also in 1951, a third teacher was added to the staff. A few years later, a fourth teacher and a half-day kindergarten program also were added.

In 1983, four more classrooms were built. Enrollment climbed to a 172 student high in 1990. In 1998, a preschool program was added to the school's offerings.

Today, the school has seven teachers and an enrollment of 125 students in its preschool through eighth-grade curriculum. Upon leaving St. Peter's, students usually complete theuir high schooll education through Big Rapids Public Schools or Crossroads Charter Academy.

St. Mary's Catholic School

St. Mary's Catholic School had its beginnings in 1883 when the temporary hospital was vacated. Father Grimme trquested the use of it as a parochial school for the church. The Sisters of Mercy agreed to staff it, although the decision required them to close their own St. Mary's Academy.

The first school was located in the back of the church and the entrance faced south on Williams Street. The hospital had two wards divided by a corridor, when the building was remodeled as a school, one ward was divided with a wall to create three classrooms.

Approximately in 1892, the partition wall was remved and in 1898, the two rooms were moved to the center of what is now the playground behind the church. An addition was built on so the school now had a "T" shape with the new addition opening toi the north. This plan was adopted because the horse stalls in the back of the school prevented a addition in that direction.

The building served as the school until 1926 during Father Faucher's pastorate, when a brick four-classroom school was constructed on the southwest corner of Marion and Williams Streets. Later, the first wooden school was moved to 801 Sheridan St. and converted into a home.

In the summer of 1951, during Father Alt's pastorate, four new classrooms were added and the interior was remodeled to produce the present-day building.

In the first full year of operation, 1884, St. Mary's had three Sisters as teachers and 100 students. The school usually had three full-time teaching Sisters except in 1888 and 1892 to 1897, when there were two Sisters. In 1916 and 1919 to 1926, there were five Sisters teaching at the school. In 1898, 1899 and during the 1950's and 60's there were four Sisters.

For the 1909-1910 school year, ninth grade classes were conducted with an enrollment of eight students.

When the teaching staff was up to five Sisters, a partition was built in the church sacristy to provide space for two additional classrooms.

Early enrollment atayed between 90 and 100 until it dropped to 50 in 1892. At the turn of the century, it rose to more than 100 and varied from 85 students to a high of 125 until 1946 when the enrollment figures reached 129. By 1949, the school had 159 students ; in 1950, the number was 178. During the 1950's, enrollment was consistently above 180. The peak was reached in 1965 when the school had 234 students.

Today, the preschool through eighth-grade program has approximately 100 students and a staff of seven teachers. Like St. Peter's, most of St. Mary's students will complete their high school education through Big Rapids Public Schools or Crossroads Charter Academy.

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