A Short History

One Hundred Years of Pictures

Commemorating the School Centennial

Beginnings

In 1909, Seattle Bishop Edward O’Dea directed Rev. Daniel A. Hanly to form the first West Seattle parish. Prior to that, people who lived in West Seattle (most worked at the nearby steel plant down the hill) had to go downtown to attend Mass. Not too long after, Fr. Hanly dedicated a humble little wood frame house at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Hill Street perched on a cliff overlooking Elliott Bay as The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.

When Fr. Michael O’Callaghan replaced Fr. Hanly in 1910, he realized that increasing attendance was making the current location unsuitable. In 1913, Holy Rosary Church’s location was moved to the corner of California Avenue and Hanford. A small wood frame building was constructed to serve as the Parish’s first parochial school.

The first teachers of Holy Rosary School were four Dominican sisters who came from the Aquinas Academy in Tacoma. Sister Mary Alberta served as the first principal. The School articulated Fr. O’Callaghan’s vision that, in instructing its students in the external as well as temporal things, it would turn out well-rounded graduates who were well-suited to tackling the challenges of their lives ahead.

The Growing Years

With church attendance growing and school enrollment topping 200 students in 1920, Fr. O’Callaghan realized the need for even larger facilities.

In 1922, the cornerstone for a new school building was laid on property along 42nd Avenue near Genessee. In June of the same year, the old wooden school building was rolled up California Avenue on drainpipes to the new property and set down adjacent to where the new school was being built. The old building would be the living quarters for the Dominican Sisters until a permanent convent building was built a few decades later.

On the morning of January 3, 1923, excited students assembled in the new brick school building. By the end of that year, enrollment had grown to 300 students. Since the parish had sold the property on Hanford and California to St. John’s Episcopal Church, parish masses were conducted in the School Hall and continued until the current church building was erected in 1938.

With Fr. O’Callahan’s unexpected passing in 1924, Fr. James Lanigan was appointed to take his stead. A year later, Sister Mary Carmelita became the principal of the school. Their tenures continued on through the 1950s. Both are instrumental in shaping the parish and the school to what it is today.

In 1927, the first year of a girls’ high school was added. The years that followed saw the priests moving into their new quarters in the new Rectory in 1928 and the completion of our current church in 1938. By 1940, the school produced its first graduates from the girls’ high school. School enrollment in 1942 was at 450 students who were taught by a staff of 14 Dominican Sisters. The high school was educating girls from neighboring parishes such as Holy Family, St. Edward’s and St. George’s. Through the 1940s and the 1950s, it gained prominence as its students won city and state awards in speech tournaments, essay and poetry contests, Latin awards. Its music department was recognized as among the best.

In 1947, a new convent (now the Parish Center) was completed. This freed the old wood convent to make way for additional classrooms which helped alleviate overcrowded conditions in the main school building. A high school addition was built in 1953, and eventually in 1966, a high school building.

Unfortunately, declining enrollment and other factors forced the parish to close the high school in 1972 and to sell the building shortly afterwards. These years also saw changes in the makeup of the school's staff as it gradually transitioned to a lay teaching staff. It was a time of many changes, in which the school and the parish went through a period of challenge and adversity.

Contemporary Times

Not quiescent for long, the parish broke ground in 1986 to build a new gymn which was named Lanigan Gym. It also named Kris Brown school principal.

In 1996, a three-year fundraising project allowed for the seismic retrofitting of the school building as well as the addition of an elevator and wheelchair-accessible restrooms. In 2010, the convent building was renovated and transformed into a Parish Center. It houses a chapel, a shelter, meeting rooms as well as additional classrooms. The same capital project also saw improvements made to the main school building’s electrical infrastructure.

Through all these years, Holy Rosary School continued to be recognized for its academic achievements. Holy Rosary School was named as a School of Excellence by the Department of Education and was honored with the prestigious Blue Ribbon School Award during the 1989-90 and 1996-97 school years.

Although much has changed over the past century, many things have nevertheless remained the same. As they receive a rigorous basic education, students continue to learn priceless truths and traditions of the Catholic faith and develop a value system.

As it celebrates its centennial year, Holy Rosary School continues to embody the visions of Fr. O’Callaghan, Fr. Lanigan, Sr. Mary Carmelita and the Dominican sisters who blazed this path many years ago. Holy Rosary School, with its rich tradition and history and its pioneering Catholic ethic, continues to shine as a place where a parish community works together to help its children acquire the tools to cope with the challenges ahead towards a bright and prayerful future.