History of Saint Mary
The School of Saint Mary was opened by the Order of the Felician Sisters in September 1954 with 78 students in first, second and third grades. Until the school building was finished in December 1954, buses took the students to Saint Anne’s in Broken Arrow for classes. A two-story school building with nine classrooms was completed in 1957 and the School of Saint Mary held its first eighth grade graduation in May of 1960.
In 1970, the School of Saint Mary was granted full accreditation from the state of Oklahoma and the school continued to grow. During the summer of 1979 the first renovation began and during this time the twelve bedroom convent of the Felician Sisters was converted into space to house the school library and preschool. The second renovation provided space for a music room, expanded preschool and a media center and a third renovation project in 2003 added space for a new kindergarten center, school offices and more room for the preschool.
The School of Saint Mary has also continued to grow academically. In 1988, the U.S. Department of Education and President Ronald Reagan recognized St. Mary with the National Exemplary School Award. St. Mary was the first Tulsa school, public or private, to receive this honor. In 1998 St. Mary became the state’s first Catholic elementary school to meet the higher accrediting standards set by the Oklahoma Conference of Catholic Schools Accreditation Association.