St. Joseph Catholic School

Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, 2211 Brooklyn Avenue; preschool through eighth grade; classes from the fall of 1918 behind the wooden church at Taylor and Frary Streets, a school closed from 1921 to 1924 and rebuilt on Brooklyn Avenue, from which year the school counts its centenary

An Italian Parish, a School in Two Rooms: St. Joseph was Fort Wayne's Italian parish; the Allen County genealogical church list dates its start to 1913 and marks it Italian Catholic, and the diocesan newspaper, telling the school's centenary in 2024, puts the parish's founding a decade before that year, about 1914. The school's own souvenir book of dedication, published for November 15, 1953, carries the history in its sketch: the first pastor, Father Anthony Petrilli, built the first St. Joseph school in Fort Wayne at Taylor and Frary Streets, behind the wooden church, and classes began in the fall of 1918, eight grades taught in two classrooms by two Sisters of St. Agnes, with Sister Vera as superior. This entry keys 1918, the first documented classes, and prints the whole broken line that follows; the school's own centenary count, from 1924, stands beside it below, and the choice between the two years is flagged for the reader rather than hidden.

Closed, Then Rebuilt on Brooklyn Avenue: Father Edward Vurpulat became pastor in 1919, and in April 1921 the school closed. Three years later Bishop Herman J. Alerding secured the property at Brooklyn and Hale Avenues, a combination church and school was begun, and Father Robert Halpin was appointed pastor on June 2, 1924. The new school held four classrooms and six Sisters of St. Agnes, Sister Teresita superior. The church moved down into the basement in 1925, and a fifth classroom was built into the hall. The first graduates finished that year: Felix Schulien, Mildred Schlebecker, Theodore Betley, Robert Ermst and Clifford Fox. By the souvenir book's count in 1953, five hundred ninety eight students had graduated. The pastor line runs Halpin, then Charles Girardot, then Charles Seeberger from 1946 and Fred Westendorf from 1950.

1953, and the Joint Years: Under Westendorf the parish launched its 1950 building program, and under Father Stanley Manoski, pastor from July 1952, it finished: a new home for the sisters in February 1953, a new rectory that September, and a new school, dedicated and occupied on November 15, 1953, and blessed by Monsignor Lawrence Monahan. The second long chapter opened in 1998, when St. Joseph and the young St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish began running one school together; its other campus, on Aboite Center Road, has its own entry in this wave. The directories of the joint years carry a single federal record under the name St. Joseph - St. Elizabeth School at this address, five hundred forty one students strong, and one commercial directory dates that listing's establishment to 2013, against the parish record of a joint school from 1998 to August 2014; the 2013 figure is printed as the directory's error, not the school's history. In August 2014 the schools separated, and St. Joseph reopened as the central city Catholic elementary school at 2211 Brooklyn Avenue with one hundred ninety students.

Today: The school celebrated its centenary on October 24, 2024, counting one hundred years from the 1924 Brooklyn Avenue building, and Fernanda Becker began as principal that school year, after eighteen years teaching Spanish at Bishop Dwenger High School and training in Notre Dame's Remick Leadership Program; Father Kevin Bauman is the pastor, on the diocesan newspaper's account. Many of the school's families come from Mexico and Guatemala, and their children learn English at the school, the heir in that to the Italian immigrant parish of 1918. No mascot was found in the school's or the diocese's published pages read for this entry, and none is printed. The counts stand with their instruments: the federal private school survey counts one hundred ninety students with twelve teachers; the directory built on the state survey counts one hundred eighty five, eighty eight and four tenths percent of them Hispanic.

Sources:

1. Souvenir Book of Dedication, St. Joseph Church and School, November 15, 1953 (archive.org), its historical sketch: Father Anthony Petrilli, first pastor, and the first school at Taylor and Frary Streets behind the wooden church; classes from the fall of 1918, eight grades in two classrooms, two Sisters of St. Agnes, Sister Vera superior; Father Edward Vurpulat pastor 1919; the school closed April 1921; Bishop Herman J. Alerding and the Brooklyn and Hale Avenues property, 1924; Father Robert Halpin appointed pastor June 2, 1924; four classrooms, six Sisters of St. Agnes, Sister Teresita superior; the church in the basement 1925, a fifth classroom in the hall; the first graduates of 1925, Felix Schulien, Mildred Schlebecker, Theodore Betley, Robert Ermst and Clifford Fox; 598 graduates by 1953; the pastors Charles Girardot, Charles Seeberger from 1946, Fred Westendorf from 1950, Stanley Manoski from July 1952; the 1950 building program; the sisters' home, February 1953; the rectory, September 1953; the new school dedicated and occupied November 15, 1953, blessed by Monsignor Lawrence Monahan; nine sisters on the staff in the fall of 1951.
2. Today's Catholic, September 17, 2024: the school's centenary, counted from 1924 and celebrated October 24, 2024; the parish founded a decade earlier; Principal Fernanda Becker, from the 2024-25 school year, 18 years teaching Spanish at Bishop Dwenger High School, Notre Dame Remick Leadership Program; Pastor Father Kevin Bauman; the parish festival; families from Mexico and Guatemala, their children learning English at the school.
3. This history's published group entry, The Catholic Grade Schools of Fort Wayne and Allen County: the parish founded about 1914; the joint school with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish from 1998; the separation of August 2014; St. Joseph reopened as the central city Catholic elementary at 2211 Brooklyn Avenue with 190 students.
4. Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, church list of Allen County (acgsi.org): St. Joseph's Catholic Church, start 1913, Italian Catholic.
5. National Center for Education Statistics, as republished by Private School Review (2026-27 profile): St. Joseph Catholic School, 2211 Brooklyn Avenue, 190 students, preschool through grade 8, 12 teachers; the joint era federal profile carried at the same address under the combined school, 541 students, with the Aboite Center Road school's phone, 260-432-4001; countyoffice.org's St. Joseph - St. Elizabeth School listing, "Established in 2013," printed against the 1998 to 2014 record; homes.com, on the state survey: 185 students, 88.4 percent Hispanic.