About St. Philomena School
History
St. Philomena School is named after St. Philomena, the patron saint of children and those seeking solace for suffering and from illness. An attribute of St. Philomena is an anchor, which represents her martyrdom and is a symbol used to represent our homage to St. Philomena.
St. Philomena Catholic School opened in the fall of 1963 under the guidance of four Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur: Sister Francis Julie, Sister Raymond Francis, Sister Mary Christopher, and Sister Joseph, plus one lay teacher, Mrs. Mildred Downey. The charism of this order is “to make known God’s goodness”, and so they also dedicated themselves to the Christian education of the poor, especially girls. St Philomena School opened with grades 1- 5, and the dedication of the school took place on April 19, 1964.
By 1969 the school had expanded to include grades six, seven, and eight. In 1973, during a period of economic decline both regionally and nationally, the sisters were called back to their mother house in Belmont, California. Despite the economic difficulties, the school’s parents decided they would do what was necessary to keep the school open.
