HISTORY OF HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Holy Angels School was built in 1907 and is the parish school of Holy Angels Catholic Church. In the late 50's enrollment from the community was encouraged. At the turn of the decade, the school was totally African American. The number of students of other faiths began to increase. Today, about 91% of the student population is non-Catholic. During the 60's, Holy Angels was noted for its Drum and Bugle Corps and its athletic accomplishments.

In 1971 a new era began. The Lilly Foundation accepted a grant written by Principal Sister Anne Julia,CSJ and Pastor Fr. Clarence Waldon. The grant was to remodel an old school building to house a new open-classroom concept school. That fall Holy Angels Model School opened with 225 students with Sister Bridget Anne Parisi,CSJ as principal. Opening day saw Holy Angels School featured on the front page of the Indianapolis Star Magazine.

Phase II of the renovation was to extend the change in architecture to program. As part of Phase II, Dr. Betty Jo Davis, funded by a grant from the Roscob Foundation, trained staff in individualized instruction. Under the direction of Sisters Marion Weinzapfel, CSJ and Sister Betty Hopf, SP, co-principals, Holy Angels Model School became part of Jesse Jackson's national wide PUSH Excel Program in 1979. In 1982, Holy Angels School was licensed by the State of Indiana.

Continued growth has been seen for over fifteen years in the Soul Dinner Theater. In 1985, this celebration of Black culture lengthened into a weekend with guest Ruby Dee. In subsequent years, we have been honored to have Rev. George Clements, Marva Collins, and Dr. Ben Carson.

School year 1985-86 marked the beginning of a Family Tuition Grant program bringing tuition within reach for families with financial needs. Staff for school year 1986-87 expanded to include an Evangelizer-Counselor and a Child Care Program Director. If was during these years that the decision was made that the school building was no longer repairable. A new building was needed. Despite the fact that the building was a hindrance and some did not come to Holy Angels School because of the condition of the building, the school continued to grow academically. Sister Gerry O'Laughlin, CSJ was principal of Holy Angels School during this time of academic growth. In 1995, Holy Angels School was shown by the ISTEP to be a education leader among Marion County center city schools.

In 1996 with the blessing of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Holy Angels Parish hired Blackburn Architects to conduct a feasibility study for building a new School and Parish Center. On August 9, 1998, Holy Angels conducted the groundbreaking ceremony for a new school and parish center to be completed by September 1999. The first day of school in the new building was August 30, 1999. Sister Gerry O'Laughlin, CSJ, retired from Holy Angels School in June off 2001. Sister Gerry served Holy Angels School as a teacher for five years and as principal for fifteen years. Sister Theresa Ann Boland, SP was hired as the new principal in July of 2001. After 2 years, Sister Gerry O'Laughlin CSJ returned as principal.