The History of Holy Family Catholic School
History of Holy Family Parish (1956–2006)
The growth of St. Petersburg in the 1950s led to the formation of Holy Family Parish, originally part of St. Paul’s Parish. Bishop Joseph P. Hurley purchased forty acres at 78th Avenue and 4th Street in 1952.
1956 – Father James S. Honnen organized the new parish and celebrated the first Mass on February 5 at Northeast High School with about 1,200 attendees.
Holy Family School opened on November 7 with 75 pupils in four grades, staffed by Dominican Sisters from Michigan.
1957 – The first church was completed and dedicated on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day). The cost of the church, school, and property improvements totaled $240,000. The Women’s Guild also held its first meeting.
1957 – Grades 5–6 were added, and four more portable buildings were added for a total of 8 classrooms.
1961 - A new 12-classroom school building and convent were completed by September.
1972 - Father Diffley founded a Parish Council. He became pastor in 1974 and also served as Superintendent of Schools.
1976 - Room 121 and the library were added onto the school building.
1977 – The parish celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special Mass and the blessing of a new Holy Family statue.
1978 - Kathy Kessler, a teacher at the school, created our parish logo which is still used today.
1981 - The parish celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Thanksgiving Mass on November 22. At a banquet following the mass the mortgage on the first church was burnt and plans for the current church were unveiled.
1984 - The first mass in the beautiful new church was celebrated on August 26th. The cost of the new church was $1,900,000.
1986 - The first annual school auction was held, a tradition that continues today.
1991 - Michael Columbus was ordained as the first Deacon for Holy Family Parish.
2000 - Holy Family's Early Childhood Center opened.
2006 - The renovation of the building was completed.
2017 - VPK moved into the school building to make room for a one-year-old room in our ECC.
2018 - Two new classrooms were added to space in the library to accommodate the growing needs of our school. Fencing was added around the soccer field.
Holy Family Catholic School continues to flourish and be an important part of this community. This Catholic school continues to help parents raise their children in faith where children know, love, and serve God.