History/Profile
St. Mary’s Academy for girls was established in 1877 at the school’s current location. Founded by the Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, the private, Catholic academy for young women opened with 60 students that first year. The academy prospered over the next quarter century, increasing its enrollment to 330 students by 1904. The school featured a strong curriculum with five departments of study that included literary, commercial, music, expression, and art. The music department, with its conservatory, built a statewide reputation.
The academy continued to operate with 12 grades until June 1908, when the high school was temporarily discontinued. The high school was reinstated in 1916, and boys were admitted for the first time. Unfortunately, its operation was short-lived. In 1925 the high school was again discontinued. The reason the high school closed, however, was not from a drop in enrollment. It closed due to too many students!
Despite these occasional setbacks, St. Mary’s School continued to prosper, eventually requiring new and larger facilities. A fund drive for the new school was kicked off in November 1951 with a goal of $325,000, and in 1952 the building of the current facility at 730 Cedar Avenue began. Almost as soon as the building was finished in July of 1953, serious talk of reinstating the high school began.
A fund drive to build the high school, called “M” day, was held on October 27, 1957, and was an overwhelming success. More than 300 volunteers from the two parishes walked the city streets and solicited funds. Marian High School, which cost $570,000, was opened. Over the next four years the school’s enrollment grew to 950.
The school reached its highest enrollment in history during the 1964-65 year with 1,020 students. In 1968, a shared-time agreement was developed with Owatonna High School that allowed Marian students to take classes such as art, data processing and the foreign languages at the public school. That sharing continues today in the junior high.
The 1974-75 school year saw a continuing decline of enrollment, and the difficult decision was made to close the high school. Since then the school’s K-8 program has prospered by adjusting to changing educational needs. An all day kindergarten program was implemented in 1990, well ahead of many other schools. In 1993 a preschool program for children ages 3-5 was added, again well ahead of many other schools that have since added preschool to their program.
Today, St. Mary’s is a vibrant, active school with 352 students in grades K-8 and an additional 55 students in preschool.