In 1875, the Church of St. Mary began in a frame building sixty feet long and thirty feet wide. In 1910, this original frame was replaced with a brick structure. In 1917, the parish opened a school on the site with an enrollment of 125 students. The school increased its space with an addition in 1958. By the 1990s, the increasing population of the School of St. Mary warranted further expansion. A new Primary Grade Center opened in 1997. Today, St. Mary’s parish facilities encompass six buildings and approximately twelve acres of property on two campuses.
Located in beautiful Lake Forest, Illinois, thirty miles north of Chicago, the School of St. Mary has grown into two campuses. Currently, we educate over 400 students, beginning in our two-year-old preschool program and continuing through eighth grade.
The United States Department of Education recognizes the School of St. Mary as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
The Illinois State Board of Education acknowledges the School of St. Mary for being in compliance with guidelines for state recognition.
The School of St. Mary is very involved in providing service to our beloved community. Caring for others remains integral to the mission of the School of St. Mary. Service is an essential and meaningful aspect of each student’s Catholic education — an experience of both giving and receiving from those served.
Our emphasis on service fosters a greater awareness of the varying needs of the wider community and encourages appropriate personal responses to these needs. Parental involvement, a crucial component, provides students with Christian role models and promotes students’ personal desires to serve others.
