St. Mary's Catholic School:Elementary & Middle 

All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(2 Tim 3:16, 17)

100 Years of Catholic Education

The beginning

In 1905, Bishop Theophile Meerschaert sent a young Father Louis Lamb to become pastor of the Lawton parish. Fr. Lamb had come to seminary from the prizefighting ring; he was a motorcyclist and loved films. This man of vision proposed a school for the parish of Blessed Sacrament. This meant hiring qualified Sisters at the rate of $25.00 per month.

The Sisters of Divine Providence

Mother Mary Florence responds to this dream. In a letter from Mother Florence, "Five Sisters will be sent, three teachers, one music teacher, and one for the household ~ The only expense for you, Rev. Father, will be the putting up of a building and the furnishing of classrooms."

The School Opens

September 2, 1907, St. Mary's opened. Kindergarten, primary, elementary and high school courses were taught, along with, stenography, typewriting, and instrumental music. Tuition was $1.00 per month for primary grades and $3.00 per month in high school. There were 60 students in attendance.

St. Mary's grows

By 1909, the enrollment was up to 118; Fr. Lamb even asked Mother Mary Florence to send another Sister.

Ft. Sill & St. Mary's continued growth

Starting with build up and modernization of the Old Post during the years leadng up to WWI, St. Mary's continued to grow and would from this point on always have military dependents amoung her student body. Fr. Lamb turns to John Kennedy to get supplies and Albert Landoll to supply the plans for a $20,000.00 much needed expansion of the school.

• "The Sisters lived on the second floor, southwest corner. The boarders lived on the second floor, northwest corner, and the rest were classrooms except for the music room and the library on the first floor.

In 1920, Sister Mark had this to say: "Our early dreams are realized. The present St. Mary's Academy is a modern brick building having an enrollment of 183 pupils and 60 music pupils."

Time marches on

By 1933, there were 9 Sisters and more than 200 students. In a letter Sister Corintha said,

St. Mary's was the school. When the people from the Base [sic] came to register, they always said they had heard of our school no matter where they were, so they wanted to send their children here for the best education even though they had a free school at Ft. Sill. Our school was considered the best.

By 1938, we were up to 280 students and by 1939, 300. It was also in 1939, that the St. Mary's School Glee Club sang on KSWO radio for the first time. The post-WWI years ended very positively.

Progress never stops

Over the years, progress continued at St. Mary's. The WWII years saw our Ft. Sill student community grow even more. The 1950's saw the expansion of the new high school. At the dedication of this building, then Bishop McGuinness said, "Our concern is the formation of young Christian men and women." Under the leadership of princpal Sister Macaria the school enrollment soon topped 524.

Great Expectations

The 1950's saw participation in local, state and national Science Fairs where St. Mary's students received top honor. The first year students entered at Cameron College they all won all the top contests. By 1959, the enrollment was at 661 and St. Mary's was a recognized leader, not only academically, but in music also.

For each step forward...

The 1960's saw the closing of the high school as times and demographics changed. St. Mary's transitioned from having a high school to a middle and elementary and back to an elementary alone by the close of the 1960's.

Reaching out

In the 1970's, many Vietnamese families were sponsored by the generous people of Lawton. Many students of sponsored families came through St. Mary's. Fr. Elmer Robnett and Sister Elizabeth Marie helped to develop ESL programs for the Vietnamese. This was a challenging time but led to a greater cooperation between St. Mary's and LPS for the good of all students. Throughout the 1970's, St. Mary's continued to reach out to the Vietnamese, Cambodian and H'Mong community.

Today

St. Mary's still continues in the missionary and vibrant spirit that founded this learning community. We still offer an excellent education which focuses on the whole child: academically, spiritually, and socially/morally. Our students continue to excel, scoring in the 80^th  percentile of National Norms on the ITBS and go on to be true assets to the community. Our foundation is our Catholic faith with Jesus as the center of our St. Mary's family.

Please consider joining our family and giving your child an exemplary Catholic Education.

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Sister Angelina Murphy, CDP, who provided much of the history in her writing, 80 for Those Who are Strong.

From our 2009 Pre-Christmas Production of: Jesus is Coming!
  

The Mission 

St. Mary's Catholic School has been serving the Lawton / Ft. Sill area for over 100 years. As the only accredited private school in Lawton, Oklahoma, our mission is to teach children to achieve academic excellence and to know, love, and serve God by serving others.

St. Mary’s students are:

Spiritually responsible

 Trustworthy citizens, with

    Moral values, who are

       Academically prepared,

          Respectful, reliable and resourceful

            Young people, guided by the Catholic faith to     

               Serve God and others. 

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY

St. Mary’s Catholic School does not discriminate regardless of race, color, ethnic background, social or economic status, or sex.  Since we are a religiously oriented school for the Catholic community, we give preference to members of the Roman Catholic Church, but we also welcome members of other denominations after our own community is served.