St. Mary’s Grade School

400 West Chatham
Metamora IL 61548
Telephone (309)367-2528
Fax (309)367-2169
Website: www.stmfalcons.com
Mascot/team name: Falcons

St. Mary’s School is the only Catholic grade School in Woodford County and has educated children from the Metamora, Germantown Hills, Washburn, Washington, Eureka and Roanoke areas for more than 135 years.

A St. Mary’s education is designed to enrich the mind, build character, inspire leadership, instill discipline and nurture the soul.

St. Mary’s School offers classes for grades Preschool through 8th Grade. Enrollment is about 100 with an average class size of 10-12.

The school year runs mid-August through early June and aligns as closely as possible to the surrounding public schools which allows for shared bus service and makes scheduling more convenient for families with children in several schools.

All school personnel and volunteers complete the Safe Environment Training Program required by the Diocese of Peoria, as well as fingerprint background checks. Children are never left unsupervised in or outside the building and an automated phone system is used to announce school closings, emergencies, important dates and activities.

Parent involvement is considered vital to the mission and success at St. Mary’s School. Parents assist in many ways such as room parents, coaches, drivers, helpers, fundraisers and guest speakers.
Besides academics, the school offers a range of extracurricular activities such as choir, speech, scholastic bowl, science fair, archery, softball, baseball, basketball, track, volleyball and cross country.

Peoria Notre Dame High School

5105 N Sheridan Road
Peoria, IL 61614
Phone (309)691-8741
Website www.peorianotredame.com
Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Mascot/team name: Fighting Irish

Peoria Notre Dame High School serves young people from all the Catholic churches in Peoria and its metro area and strives to be a welcoming, academically excellent high school that inspires and prepares students for college and for successful lives.

Its avowed mission is to “foster spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical development, by teaching the Catholic faith, by leading students to be disciples of Jesus Christ, and by teaching the arts and sciences in a climate of Catholic academic inquiry.

The school has a 150-year tradition of successfully preparing the leaders and good citizens of tomorrow – each one knowing that there is a higher purpose for us all from God. Students are taught to value rules, show consideration for one another and behave as responsible adults while in school and in all environments. The Notre Dame community embraces Catholic values and principles, respects all religions and provides a safe and considerate learning environment that eliminates distractions and appreciates the individual.

It embraces these values:

  • Academic excellence that inspires and prepares us for successful lives.
  • Catholic faith that places us in God’s transforming hands.
  • Family that sustains, loves, forgives and cares.
  • Individual dignity as a gift of God that shows respect for self and sees the worth of others.
  • Personal responsibility that engenders pride and builds the trust of others.
  • Service to others that brings true purpose to our lives.
  • Teamwork that unites us and causes things to happen.
  • Tradition that teaches, guides and remember.

The school has a long rich history going back to the 1860s. Peoria then was a part of the Diocese of Chicago and under the direction of the Archbishop of St. Louis. As the Catholic community grew in the Peoria area, so did the need for Catholic education. This was a time when our country was devastated by the Civil War and disagreements on the extent of women’s education. Father Abram Ryan made it possible for seven sisters from the St. Joseph of Carondelet order to begin a school for young women in 1863. The eventually became Academy of Our Lady.

In 1899, Spalding Institute was first established as a Catholic boys high school, named after Reverend Ben J. Spalding, brother of Bishop John L. Spalding, founder of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria. Known as the “Fighting Irish,” Spalding Institute posited a tradition of academics and athletics. Its religious strengths developed through the consecutive guidance of the Brothers of Mary, the Benedictine Fathers, and the Viatorian Fathers.

In 1964, a third Catholic high school was created to meet the changing educational needs of the growing population from the northern part of the city. This high school was named Bergan High School after Gerald T. Bergan, a Peoria native and Archbishop of Omaha. When Bergan High School was first established, the classes were not co-educational. In later years, the school was managed by the Christian Brothers, and some of the staff was made up of Benedictine sisters. Due to financial decisions, the Academy of Our Lady and Spalding Institute united under the same administrative governance and academic curriculum in 1973.

The three Catholic schools functioned this way until 1988 when the Academy of Our Lady/Spalding and Bergan High School merged and became known as Peoria Notre Dame High School.
The Bergan High School campus was used as the location for the merged schools. Students still attend classes today on this same campus. There you find class pictures of students when the three schools still functioned separately, you see trophies and awards from earlier days, and you see a crest that contains emblems that honor the united schools. On the crest is a fleur-de-lis symbol which symbolizes the Academy of Our Lady, a shamrock which symbolizes Spalding Institute, and a Celtic cross which symbolizes Bergan High School. In addition to these three symbols, the Peoria Notre Dame insignia stands at its center because it is a school that has been built on the tradition of those before it.
While highly regarded and honored for its academic excellence, the school also is esteemed for its raft of athletic and extracurricular activities including music and drama. Further, its students annually perform thousands of hours of community service to area organizations.

It is a 13-mile, 20-minute drive from St. Mary of Lourdes Church.