The History of St. Charles Schools Part 3: Private Schools in Town

Education has been the theme of my last two blogs. So while you now know about and how some of the no history of education in St. Charles would be complete without the stories of the private schools in town.

For over 110 years, various private schools have offered an alternative to public education in St. Charles. The first of these private schools to open was Mount St. Mary Academy in 1907. The Mount, as it was called by many students over the years, was opened by the Dominican Sister from Adrian, Michigan. The school was initially housed in the old Farnsworth Mansion on the west side of town along Geneva Road. Today the View Point subdivision sits on that land.

When Mount St. Mary was first established, it was a coed school for all grade levels. It was both a boarding and day school, although only girl students were allowed to board. A few years later, the Sisters converted a home on property near Mount St. Mary into Villa Angela. Villa Angela, which soon was renamed St. Raymond, was a boarding facility for the male students. As the school and student population continued to grow new additions were made to the school. In 1925 St. Augustin’s Hall was built adding more classrooms, an auditorium and gymnasium.

By the 1940s, St. Raymond had closed and The Mount became an all girl Catholic High School. The property on the east side of Route 31 had been improved by the school and the girls had access to tennis course, a golf course, athletic field, summer pavilion and the river via the St. Jude’s Passageway which ran under the highway.

Sadly by the 1960s, The Mount started to face troubles. Declining enrollment and rising costs were the two main problems the school encountered. In 1967, the school became a day school, no longer taking boarding students, and, in 1972, The Mount closed. Later that year, the Lutheran High School Association purchased the property and the Fox Valley Lutheran High School, a coed school, opened in the fall of 1974.

Mount St. Mary Academy was not the only school in St. Charles staffed by the Dominican Sister. In 1930, the St. Patrick’s Church opened their grade school. The George H. Rempe Memorial School was built with funds donated by the Rempe family and was staffed by the Dominican Sisters. When the school opened on Jan. 6, 1930, there were 187 students enrolled. The student population has grown by leaps and bounds over the past eighty two years, and this school year saw the opening of a new, larger school located on the grounds of the Crane Road church.

The Sisters from Adrian, Michigan were called upon once again in the 1960s. This time they were asked to open a four year Catholic College for women. St. Dominic College opened September 15, 1963 to a freshman class of sixty six young women. According to an informational brochure from 1963, students could earn Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees in a number of areas including teaching, social work, art, music, speech and drama, medical technology, home economics, research, chemistry and secretarial science.

St. Dominic College was located north of downtown St. Charles along Route 25. The area, once known as Jones Woods, was donated to the Sisters from Lester and Dellora Norris. Unfortunately, the school was only open for seven years. On June 1, 1970, St. Dominic officially closed due to financial problems. Chicago-based Arthur Anderson purchased the property and converted it to training facility for their employees from around the world. Today, the Q Center is located on the site.

As mentioned earlier, the Fox Valley Lutheran High School was located in St. Charles beginning in 1974. The High School was open for seventeen years at the old Mount St. Mary site before financial hardship forced the school to close. Valley Lutheran fought hard for several years to prevent the sale of their property to developers but in the end the school could not gather the funds necessary to purchase the land from the Lutheran High School Association. The school closed in 1991 and by 1993 the school and surrounding buildings were torn down to develop the Viewpoint neighborhood.

This post wraps up the series of St. Charles School History posts. What are some of your favorite memories about schools in St. Charles? Can you remember any of your school songs from grade school through high school? We would love to hear them, share them in the comments below!