page_title: Our Lady of Guadalupe School (Houston)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Our Lady of Guadalupe School (Houston) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church Español: Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
context_page_description: Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School is a Roman Catholic K-8 school in the Second Ward in the East End, Houston, Texas. It is the parish school of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
  Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School is the oldest continuously operating Catholic elementary school in the City of Houston. As of 2010 the school's parish is one of the poorest Catholic parishes in Greater Houston.
context_section_description: The school first opened on September 8, 1912, one month after the church's first Mass. Although founded by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Sisters of Divine Providence of Texas (C.D.P.) operated the school for most its existence. The Sisters initially commuted to OLG School from the already established Immaculate Conception School (closed 1969); their presence in OLG School lasted for 87 years. Historically at least one Sister from the group served as the school's director of religious education. In the 1912–13 school year the school had 30 students.
  The school was originally located on the lower floor of the two-story church building. Sister Mary Benitia Vermeersch, C.D.P., born in Belgium, began operating the school in 1915, when it had 85 students enrolled; she was assigned there due to her knowledge of Mexican culture and her proficiency in Spanish.
  
  By 1935 the school had 428 students. Natalie Garza, author of "The “Mother Church” of Mexican Catholicism in Houston," wrote that 
  [a]s a teacher and principal, Sister Benitia saw it as her duty to personally encourage Mexican American families to send their children to Our Lady of Guadalupe School.
   As a result, enrollment increased under her watch. After a new church facility opened in 1923, the previous church facility was remodeled, and began to be entirely used as a school and for social activities. The current school building, established to be resistant against fire, was opened in 1948. The pastor, the Rev. Agapito Santos, supervised the construction of the two-story current school building, and he also oversaw the construction of the gymnasium in 1952.
  After the Sisters of Divine Providence withdrew from the school, John Louis Morkovsky, the Bishop of Galveston-Houston, asked the Dominican Sisters to administer the school on a temporary basis, and the Dominican Sisters managed the school for a five-year period. As the Dominican Sisters administered the OLG School, members of the Religious of the Sacred Heart (R.S.C.J.) from Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart volunteered to teach at OLG. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart became full-time teachers there, and in 1983 they began to manage the school on a permanent basis.
  In 1985 the school purchased individual air conditioning units that were installed in classrooms. In 1995 the school renovated the gymnasium and installed a cafeteria there. The school subsequently installed a playground adjacent to the school building. In a 20-year period before 2012 the school acquired a plot of land which had overgrown vegetation. Parents and friends of OLG cleared the field so that the schoolchildren could use it, and the land is now known as Eagle Field. Subsequently, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston allowed the school to begin using a house previously used by Catholic Charities, and the art and music classes of OLG were moved into this house. Four years prior to 2012, the school opened a covered area which shelters individuals moving between buildings during inclement weather.
  In 2010 the archdiocese launched a campaign to stabilize OLG and twelve other inner city Catholic schools so they could stay open. The school scheduled completion of a newly installed roof and a tuck pointing and sealing of the school building in the northern hemisphere summer of 2012.
  OLG remained open as other area Catholic schools closed due to low enrollment. As of 2012 many elementary school classes have waiting lists.
caption: Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, which houses the school
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