Mission Statement
St. Luke's is committed to the holistic development of each child put under its care - mind, body, and spirit. Our aim is for every St. Luke's graduate to leave our school with the skills of a successful competitor in the arena of higher education, and the social conscience of a responsible steward of God's creation. St. Luke's School is also called to the quest for social justice in our city and in our world. To this end, scholastic achievement is regarded as a vital step towards the empowerment of our students to right the wrongs confronted in their young lives.
A Brief History of St. Luke's School
Eleven years after the founding of St. Luke's parish in 1897, founding pastor Fr. John J. Boyle, submitted plans to the Archdiocese for the building of the school, at a projected cost of $40,000.
The cornerstone was laid on August 1st, 1909; and the school was formally opened in September of 1910 (at a final cost of $80,000). The original building consisted of eight classrooms and an auditorium. The school was staffed from the very beginning by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, who originally lived on the third floor of the school.
In June of 1920, the school, now fully-graded, held its first graduation. Between 1922 and 1926, under the direction of third pastor, Fr. John J. Mitty, (a whirlwind of a man who went on to become Archbishop of San Francisco!) the school's ground-floor auditorium was converted into five classrooms. What is now called "the gym" was built, and was named by contemporary parishioners "Mitty Hall," in honor of their pastor, upon his elevation to Bishop of Salt Lake City in June of 1926.
In 1936, under the direction of St. Luke's fifth pastor, Msgr. Robert B. Mulcahey, a second school building, consisting of six classrooms, was erected above the gym. In 1941, property east of the gym building was purchased and built into a schoolyard, originally with a large wall on the 139th Street side. The large wall was replaced with low iron piping within ten years. The Missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart joined the St. Luke's faculty in 1943, teaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade boys.
By 1945, the school staff consisted of 31 teachers: 21 Blauvelt Dominican Sisters, six Sacred Heart Brothers, and four lay teachers. School enrollment was so large that, for many years, two separate graduations were held, one in January and one in June. At one time, school enrollment reached as high as 1,200; and St. Luke's became the leading parish for vocations to the priesthood, sisterhood and brotherhood in the Archdiocese during the 1940s and 1950s.
The well-documented devastation of the South Bronx in the 1970s brought intense poverty to the St. Luke's neighborhood. But while society may have seen the South Bronx as a lost cause, St. Luke's Parish and School continued providing a safe haven, hope, and education,- the promise of a better future,- for the residents of the neighborhood.
Under the spiritual direction of Msgr. Gerald Ryan (pastor since 1966,- the longest-serving pastor in the Archdiocese!), and long-time principal, Sr. Pat Howell, St. Luke's continued to provide what the New York Times described as "a small island of hope in the South Bronx, where teachers nurture the self-confidence, the discipline, and the scholastic ability their students need."
In 1994, St. Luke's School Alumni Association was established. In April, 2005, Sr. Pat Howell announced that she had been elected to the leadership team at Blauvelt, and so would be leaving St. Luke's after 19 years as principal.
But at the same time, Sr. Pat announced that St. Luke's School had received the prestigious Middle States accreditation through 2015.
Today, under the direction of principal Ms. Tracey Coleman, the mission of St. Luke's School remains, "to have every graduate leave our school with the skills of a successful competitor in the arena of higher education and the social conscience of a responsible steward of God's creation."
St. Luke's School has begun its second century of service to students and families of the South Bronx. The school celebrated its Centennial in 2010 and you will be hearing about the "Centennial" endowment campaign to ensure its financial strength in the decades to come.
By Roland Chapdelaine '71
St. Luke's Education Foundation, Inc.
Board of Directors
- J. James Lewis,* Chairman
- Sister Grace Augustine, O.P., Assistant Principal
- Daniel Butler *
- Tracey Coleman, Principal
- Gina Cabrera *
- Raymond Carew *
- Cynthia Ceilan *
- Sister Patricia Howell, O.P.
- Edward McGinty *
- Richard T. McInerney *
- John (Jack) McHugh *
- Frank McLoughlin *
- Thomas Parkes *
- * Graduate of St. Luke's School
