Saint Andrew Catholic School
Saint Andrew Catholic School is the parish school for the community of Saint Andrew Catholic Church located in the TCU area on the near southwest side of Fort Worth, Texas (map). Most, though certainly not all, of our students are children of the Saint Andrew parish family. Our classes in preschool through eighth grade have a current enrollment steady at around 700 students with approximately 55 staff members.
Saint Andrew Catholic School opened Monday morning, September 13, 1954, with 270 students, First through Eighth grades. The school was staffed by the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur, from Our Lady of Victory Provincial House a few miles away, along with a few lay teachers. The first principal was Sr. Marie Magdalene Barrios.
By 1963, the school began to be served by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, with more lay faculty added each year. This change has been reflected over the past years: while the first 9 principals were all Sisters, the last 4 have been lay people, beginning in 1979. At nearly 700 students, Saint Andrew Catholic School has grown to be one of the largest Catholic elementary schools in Texas, with 3 classes of each grade, including 3 year-old and 4 year-old preschool classes. It is housed in five buildings built around a beautiful courtyard, and also is fortunate enough to have a gymnasium and large athletic fields.
Saint Andrew Catholic School is now stronger than ever with innovative programs, a deeply valued social ministry outreach, continuous progress leveling in reading and math, and a flexible upper grade program of electives. Our students consistently have won recognition from the Duke University Academic Talent Search, have been state finalists in the National Geography Bee 11 out of 14 times, and have won appointments to summer academic talent camps. Saint Andrew was the first school in Tarrant County, public or private, to have every classroom and office fully connected to the internet and to each other. Our students, upon graduation from high school, have then gone on to most of the universities in Texas, to Yale, Harvard, Notre Dame, Stanford, and many others.
Above all, Saint Andrew Catholic School continues to fulfill its mission to educate children to develop their God-given talents, and to adopt a world view proper to those who know that they are children of God, brothers and sisters of each other, and citizens of two worlds.
Our Philosophy stems from our belief that God created not just all of us, but each of us, and in God’s own image. From this conviction, it follows that each of us has a personal dignity and worth that must be respected by others and also by ourselves. We are called to do all that we do to the very best of our abilities, and we have the right to have our efforts respected.
The Catholic school is one of the primary educational tools used by the Church in the service of God. Because of the moral obligation of parents to provide for their children’s spiritual growth and development. and the extension of that obligation to all the members of the faith community, Saint Andrew parish’s largest single expense is for the operation of Saint Andrew Catholic School. The school seeks to help the child grow in faith and to fulfill the promise of baptism by becoming believing, trusting, loving, and participating members of the Catholic community and of the world. It tries to introduce the child to the splendor and richness of God’s revelation and to develop a view of life and a world view proper to those who know that they are children of God, brothers and sisters of each other, and citizens of two worlds. Parents, in choosing this type of education, necessarily commit themselves to sustain such values at home by word and constant example.
Because of our belief in the worth of each person, the Church seeks to help children develop other basic skills in reading, listening, thinking, and reasoning, written expression, and mathematical concepts. Each student is also expected to learn habits of good sportsmanship and fair play, as well as to develo healthy and sound bodies. When used properly, all these skills will strenghten a sense of self-worth and promote our primary objective and the reason for our life on earth: the service of God and participation in God’s Divine Life.