School History
Quality Education Through Generations
1847 - 2011
| The first school established in Osage Mission, now St. Paul, was the Osage Manual Labor School for Boys, opened on May 10, 1847 by Jesuit priests and brothers as a school for the Osage Indians. The Sisters of Loretto opened a school for girls on October 10, 1847. This was the first school for girls in what would become the State of Kansas. These facilities were within a block of what is now the St. Paul School campus. |
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| With the departure of the Osages and the influx of settlers, Father Schoenmakers realized the schools must evolve from Indian schools to institutions of higher education to serve white settlers. St. Francis Institution for Boys was chartered on May 13, 1870, drawing students from areas such as the Dakota territory and New Mexico. St. Francis Institute for Boys and St. Ann's Academy for Girls were both incorporated in 1870. |
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| The first town school, a subscription school, opened in 1866 in a frame building on what is now believed to be the corner of 6th and Central. The first public school, District #14 (St. Paul Public), a frame building was erected in 1869. A brick building was built in 1872 and was replaced with a new elementary/high school building in 1921. |
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| Public School district #93 (St. Francis) was organized in 1872. The present building, which now serves as St. Paul Middle School, was completed in January 1923. In 1947, St. Paul Public and St. Francis, plus Lone Elm, Hylton, Odel, Bloomer, Moriarity, Brogan, and Prairie View were consolidated to form St. Paul Public School District #103. | 
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| In 1953, a new elementary building was constructed. In 1965, Galesburg, Thayer, Stark and St. Paul came together to form USD #472. In 1967, these schools merged with Erie to form Consolidated Unified School District #101. On July 1, 2005, St. Paul Schools joined USD 505 Chetopa to form USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul. Ironically, the Kansas State Board of Education approved this transfer of territory on May 10, 2005, the same day the first mission school was opened in 1847. In addition, on May 10, 1844, the Osage Indians sent their formal request to the government for the establishment of a Jesuit mission in their midst. In September 2009, students started classes in a new high school building. |
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| St. Paul lays no claim to having the first school in Kansas. Several were started before 1847, but most died or were suspended for considerable periods. St. Paul does have the unique distinction of having the oldest school in continuous operation in the state of Kansas having not missed even a part of a term since 1847. |
