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1843 – 1908 and after
Founded: 1843. A Brother of Holy Cross was sent to Fort Wayne so that Fr. Julian Benoit could open St. Augustine's Institute, a co-educational school — the first Catholic school in Fort Wayne; the Brothers' own records date its opening to December 1, 1843.
Course: Benoit built a three-story brick school in 1845 on the northwest corner of the cathedral grounds. In August 1845 five Sisters of Providence made the five-day journey from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, took charge of the girls, and opened St. Augustine Academy for girls in 1846 under Mother Theodore Guérin — see the academy's own entry in the third rung. The Holy Cross Brothers kept the boys' school, recorded by 1856 as the Cathedral School for Boys: 80 boys in 1859, six Brothers and 250 pupils by 1872, and still about 250 boys in 1908. The boys' school line runs forward into the all-boys Central Catholic of 1909 (third rung).
Sources:
- Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, Catholic school history (2026).
- Today's Catholic, Catholic schools history addendum (Oct. 15, 2006).
- Brother Aidan's Extracts, University of Notre Dame Archives — Fort Wayne school opened Dec. 1, 1843; Cathedral School for Boys returns, 1856–1908.