SEATTLE – At least five current priests in the Archdiocese of Seattle graduated from St. Anne School, celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

“It was a close-knit community around school and church,” said Father Paul Magnano, the oldest of eight siblings who were educated at St. Anne; he graduated in 1956. Today, he is a senior priest assigned as a parish priest to the Skagit Valley Catholic churches.

Father Jim Dalton, also a senior priest, graduated the same year, while Father Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral, graduated a year earlier, Father Magnano said. Also alumni of St. Anne School are senior priests Father Roger O’Brien and Father Jim Eblen, said Mary Sherman, a former principal who is helping organize the centennial celebration.

On Nov. 4, the school will celebrate its centennial with a 5 p.m. Mass concelebrated by Fathers Magnano, Ryan and Dalton, along with Father Colin Parrish, pastor of St. Anne Parish. A gala reception afterward (now sold out) will include tours of the school and tables highlighting each of its 10 decades, Sherman said.

On Feb. 16, students will celebrate “100s Day,” marking the 100th day of the school year and the 100th year of the school, Sherman said. The day will include opening a time capsule that was buried in 2003 when the school was remodeled, said Heidi Austin, St. Anne’s principal.

Above: Students stand in front of St. Anne School when it opened in 1923. Below: St. Anne students recreate the 1923 photo by standing at the same corner of the school in 2023. Father Colin Parrish, pastor of St. Anne Parish, stands at left. (Photos courtesy of Mary Sherman)

Growing in ‘positive, faith-filled ways’

When St. Anne School opened in 1923, 150 students showed up — more than was expected, Sherman said. The original teachers were Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, who had a presence at St. Anne until the last sister left in the early 2000s, she said.

Sherman and her family have a connection to the school that goes back more than 80 years. Her father graduated from St. Anne in 1941, and aunts and uncles attended the school. Sherman, who graduated in 1969, said her six brothers and sisters attended St. Anne and her four children are St. Anne alumni. Some of her nieces and nephews are enrolled in the school.

While Sherman was vice principal in the early 2000s, St. Anne School underwent a major renovation that added a building that includes a middle-school wing and a gym, which also serves as the parish hall.

Today, the school has 244 students and is applying for a license so it can offer full-day pre-kindergarten starting in fall 2024. 

“We have a few openings, but for the most part, our classes are full,” Austin said.

The week starts with a Monday prayer assembly, led by a different class each week. Activities include Chess Club for all grades, “DebateAble” — a debate club for grades 4-5 — and speech for grades 7-8. Sports are offered in partnership with CYO Athletics and “we have a really engaged cross-country team,” Austin said. 

The community of parents at St. Anne is supportive and creates events — like the recent family carnival and a tailgating gathering at the start of the school year — to build connections, she said.

“We just grow and change in positive, faith-filled ways,” Austin said.