Our School's History
Located in the beautiful Willamette Valley, Sacred Heart Catholic School first opened its doors to students in Gervais, Oregon in 1883. The school operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. Sacred Heart Catholic School is the third oldest Catholic school in the Archdiocese. The town of Gervais is approximately 30 miles south of Oregon’s largest city, Portland, and about 20 miles north of the state capital, Salem.
In May of 1882, the Benedictine Sisters arrived in Gervais. The school and convent were already being built when they were asked to take charge of it. The Sisters named the first school St. Scholastica in honor of their foundress. The school accepted its first students in March of 1883. As the number of Benedictine sisters arriving in Gervais increased it was necessary for them to build a larger convent in Mt. Angel. It was at this time the Benedictines moved to Mt. Angel and no longer staffed the school.
For a few years, the children of the parish were taught by the parish priest, and assisted by lay teachers. In 1908 the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon arrived to continue the work of Catholic education in Gervais. They remained until 1983. During the time the Sisters of St. Mary staffed the school, the present day school building was built. In place of the old school building, a new gymnasium and kitchen facility were constructed and dedicated in 1960 by a joint effort of St. Louis and Sacred Heart parishes.
For a year following the departure of the Sisters of St. Mary lay teachers staffed the school. In 1984 the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, along with two lay teachers, took over the job of teaching the parish children. The Franciscan Missionary Sisters left Sacred Heart Catholic School in 1990. Since that time, dedicated professional lay people and individual religious, under the auspices of the presiding pastor, have staffed Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Historically, Sacred Heart/St. Louis parishioners, pastors, and parents have been steadfast supporters of the school. Although Sacred Heart Catholic School has many second-, third-, and fourth- generation families, it also has new families that are drawn from several local parishes, including St. Mary in Mt. Angel, St. Paul in Silverton, and St. Edward in Keizer (Salem) and Woodburn.
With the addition of a Kindergarten program in 1991, the need to incorporate the class within the school building prompted a building project. Generous parish contributions, along with a Meyer Memorial Trust Grant in 1997, allowed Sacred Heart to add one classroom, a multi-purpose room which serves as the library and computer room, and to remodel the office and create a faculty workroom from the old library. In addition, the Cy Ferschweiler Memorial was established with the purpose of providing ongoing funding for the school’s technology program. All of the above place Sacred Heart Catholic School in a position to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world of technology.
Sacred Heart Catholic School’s graduates have successfully transitioned to their resident public high school (Mt. Angel, Salem, Woodburn, St. Paul, and Gervais), or one of two Catholic high schools, Regis in Stayton or Blanchet in Salem.
