St. Alphonsus Parish School, located in the heart of Ballard on15th Avenue Northwest, will celebrate a century of providing children with a Catholic education this fall.

The same year Ballard was annexed into the City of Seattle in 1907, area Catholics celebrated the opening of their parochial school.

The school's Century Committee is planning a celebratory Mass and reception, with Archbishop Alexander Brunett presiding, at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 23. Alumni from the school's all-girl high school, Holy Angels Academy, which occupied the brick building's third floor until 1972, as well as St. Alphonsus School are sending in memories for a history booklet that will be produced in honor of the occasion. Their letters all share warm thoughts of the Dominican Sisters who established the school.

"I learned a lot about life from the Sisters. It helped me get through life what I learned from those Sisters," said parishioner Donna Day, who graduated in 1962. "All the Sisters gave us something of themselves."

School families, area businesses and alumni recently completed a fundraiser to install new playground equipment at the school this summer. This century birthday present is sure to delight the school's 176 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

The early years

At its inception, St. Alphonsus Parish served a hard-working immigrant community that flocked to the area for fishing, lumber and shingle-mill jobs.

Bishop Edward J. O'Dea appointed Father Gustave Achtergael as pastor Nov. 16, 1901. Prior to his arrival, Ballard Catholics were served in a crowded one-room facility by the Redemptorist Fathers from Sacred Heart Parish on lower Queen Anne.

O'Dea, who expressed a desire for each parish to have a school, picked the right man in Achtergael. Only 36 when he arrived in Ballard, Achtergael had already directed the construction of a church and school at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Chehalis.

"With the keen foresight of a business man, he saw Seattle had a great future, so his first step was to secure a splendid tract of 200-by-350 feet, on which he later built the church, parochial residence and parish hall," according to parish records.

There was a time when St. Alphonsus was the only parish from the canal to Everett. Since its inception, 15 parishes have been carved from the territory that St. Alphonsus served.

With a church building to provide an anchor for their faith, Ballard-area Catholics then requested a school to nurture their children.

Achtergael rolled up his contractor sleeves again. He contacted the Dominican Sisters of Everett (with whom he had worked in Chehalis) to construct Holy Angels Academy at the cost of $40,000.

According to parish records, "A request to the Sisters of St. Dominic was sent out asking that they take the obligation of a much needed school in the parish. Their acceptance and arrival in the parish was a time of joy for the people in Ballard."

Holy Angels Academy opened on Sept. 7, 1907, where St. Alphonsus Church stands today, as a boarding and day school serving primary and high school students.

The eight Sisters who were first assigned to the school came a few weeks before the opening and slept on cots in St. Alphonsus Hall, using newspapers as mattresses. They ate staggered meals, having to share the few plates and utensils available.

Seventy-five children attended class on the opening day. By the end of the first term, enrollment had reached 200.

The school continued to grow and soon it became clear that a larger facility was needed.

"The number of pupils so increased that the Sisters were obliged to take fewer boarders and give more room in their building to parochial school purposes," wrote a parish historian.

By 1916, the overcrowded conditions demanded new buildings. Yet amidst the uncertain times of World War I this was not feasible. A portable building of two classrooms was purchased. The school stopped charging tuition for a time after 1918, making a Catholic education available to most, but also requiring the purchase of another portable building.

By 1921, the decision was made to build a new school, as enrollment had reached approximately 600 students.

"The annals of the Parish tell of no prouder day than that of the laying of the cornerstone of the new St. Alphonsus School. The day was perfect for an outdoor celebration and the societies, sodalities and children marched in a procession that could well be called triumphant," wrote a parish historian.

On Feb. 11, 1923, Bishop O'Dea dedicated the brick school that still houses St. Alphonsus students today. The building was immediately occupied. The new school contained 17 classrooms, an assembly hall, physics and chemistry lab, typing room, library room, playrooms and lunchrooms. Holy Angels high school students moved into the third floor.

The original academy building was remodeled and given dormitories, parlors and recreation rooms on one side for the boarding students and adequate housing on the other side to use as a convent.

When the new school opened in 1923 there were 588 in the grade school and 151 in the high school.

The Dominican Sisters' hard work over those initial years earned the Academy's high school accreditation by the University of Washington. Their talents also earned them the respect and awe of their students, many of whom aspired to join the order.

Of the first graduating class from the grammar school, three entered religious life. Since then, more than 280 St. Alphonsus and Holy Angels graduates have entered the religious life. According to a history of the Dominican Sisters, there would come more vocations to the Order of the Holy Cross from Ballard than any other parish in the Northwest.

Sister Dorothy Berg, who graduated from Holy Angels Academy in 1953 and came back to teach first grade as Sister Mary de Lourdes in 1958, was one of those students who decided to pursue life as a Dominican.

"I think it was the Sisters - the inspiration that the teachers gave. Because in those days all you had was Dominican Sisters for every class. And if anyone was thinking of religious life, these were the Sisters they knew. So they'd say, 'I want to be like them.' That's one reason I was really insistent on going to Holy Angels," Berg said.

"The beauty of their white habits attracted a lot of people - of course little girls are attracted to that kind of thing ... but (it was) the peacefulness of their life, their prayerfulness. They were all good teachers," she added.

By 1972, however, Holy Angels High School was forced to close due to a lack of money and vocations.

Day, along with many alumni, mourned the school's passing.

"That was a sad day in our family," she said. "They had a Mass when they closed. St. Alphonsus Parish was such a close-knit parish. Everybody did everything together."

"The Sisters gave their whole lives to educating us and worked very hard," she added.

Though Holy Angels Academy is no more, its alumni group gathers twice a year for a spring luncheon and a Christmas party.

The Dominican Sisters continued to administer St. Alphonsus School until 1975.

While the Dominican Sisters moved to retirement facilities on Oct. 21, 1993, their legacy remains. A bronze sculpture near the school's entry pays homage to their selfless work.

St. Alphonsus 2007

St. Alphonsus School serves 176 students today, including 23 in the school's pre-kindergarten program, which was started in 2000.

"The most striking thing about St. Al's is the strong sense of community, based on daily prayer," said Principal Bob Rutledge. "We are a small enough school that we all know each other, and this pays off in better behavior from our children and very strong support from our parents."

The school made headlines a few years ago when administrators chose to separate the middle-school grades into single-sex classrooms.

"Our all-boy and all-girl classes allow us to tailor our instruction to their different learning styles," said Rutledge, who started at the school as an eighth-grade teacher. "Boys and girls really do learn differently, and you can see that clearly in our middle school classrooms."

St. Alphonsus is finishing its accreditation process according to the guidelines of the Western Catholic Education Association and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. This will be completed in January 2008.

The school's certified teaching staff has a combined longevity of 123 years at St. Al's, an average of seven years, and 248 total years in education, Rutledge said.

"Their skill and dedication as educators mean that each student gets a strong curriculum, grounded in basics, presented in a loving and nurturing environment," Rutledge said.

And, in a case of history repeating itself, there are Sisters back in the classroom. Sisters from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity offer instruction in religion, music and physical education.

For more information on the school's Century Celebration or to participate in the memoir booklet that's being produced, call the school at 782-4363.

Gloria Kruzner may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com