School History - Sacred Heart Catholic School

School History

Sacred Heart parish has enjoyed a strong community spirit since its inception in the early 1930s, a spirit that personifies the true meaning of the Body of Christ. The history behind the distinctive red bricks that have housed Sacred Heart School for so many years is a true testament to the spirit that embodies the parishioners of Sacred Heart.

The sleepy sawmill town of Conroe experienced rapid growth in the 1930s due to a major oil discovery in the area. As a result, the Catholic community began to expand as well. Fr. Timothy Cronin, the second pastor at Sacred Heart Church, realized there was a great need for Catholic education in the growing community of Conroe. He encouraged his lifelong friend, Mrs. Blanche Bender, to build the first parochial school in Montgomery County. Construction began in 1958 and included six classrooms, offices, and a library.

During this time, parochial schools were at the peak of expansion, and finding Sisters to teach proved difficult. After much correspondence, wires and travel, Father Cronin finally prevailed upon the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati to staff the new school. In September of 1959, the school opened its doors with ninety students. Sister William Mary O’Connor, Principal, and three other Sisters of Charity, thus began a strong tradition of faith and education that would define Sacred Heart School for years to come. After eight years of able leadership, the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati returned to Ohio in 1967 and turned over the reins to the Sisters of the Incarnate Word of Cleveland, Ohio.

During the formative years, classes were offered through the eighth grade. Due to the limited number of teachers and Sisters, individual grade levels had to double up and be taught in the same classroom. Eventually, in 1968, because of the very small number of students in 7th and 8th grades, it was decided that these grades would be dropped. In June of that year, Father Cronin dedicated the cafetorium, built with pledge donations from parishioners. Later, an additional three acres directly behind the cafetorium were purchased for a playground and future expansion. The all-purpose building that houses the parish offices and school gym would eventually occupy that space and was completed in 1978.

The next two decades brought with them more changes. The first School Board of Sacred Heart School was established in December 1984, with nine members. In 1986, the Sisters from Cleveland ended their stay at Sacred Heart, and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Houston, Texas stepped forward to provide teachers for the School.

For a time in the 1980s, Sacred Heart School experienced a decline in enrollment but that trend reversed and by the next decade, classes in each grade level began doubling each year beginning with Kindergarten. In the late 1990s, there was a strong parental movement to reestablish the 7th and 8th grades. The school did indeed expand to junior high in 1995 and portable classrooms were added each year to house the burgeoning enrollment.

In response to this steady growth, Monsignor David Kennedy and the Principal, Mrs. Margaret Looper took a leap of faith and began to lay the groundwork for a larger building to house the school. A capital campaign drive was begun to provide funding for construction and that dream became a reality when the new facility opened its doors in August 1997. Ten years later, in 2007, the school building was named the Kennedy Building in honor of Msgr. Kennedy. Today, under the leadership of Mr. Gerard Kubelka, Sacred Heart School can add to its list of accomplishments a full day Pre-K program, up to date technology, and a junior high program that includes electives and extracurricular activities.

Upon entering the school, the students are greeted by a large statue of Jesus embracing two school children. It is the very same statue that stood among the first students of Sacred Heart School fifty years ago during morning prayer in the breezeway. While many things continue to evolve and grow at Sacred Heart, the expression of faith that was the vision of both the clergy and laity in 1958 still holds true today. It is the mission of the parish and the school to ensure that this rich heritage endures for generations to come.