668 Pine St., Bally, PA 19503 | 610-845 7364
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School History
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In 1743, Fr. Schneider established a fledgling educational institution that marked the beginnings of Catholic primary education in Pennsylvania. Now known as Saint Francis Classical Catholic Academy, the school is the oldest continuously operated Catholic school in Pennsylvania, and one of the three oldest in the original thirteen colonies.
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Fr. Schneider’s school was located on the south side of Main Street across from the Mennonite meeting house. When the Jesuits sold that lot to Joseph Melcher in 1873 it was known as the “schoolhouse lot.” Mention is also made that there was a deteriorated structure on that lot that had been used as a rental unit just prior to the sale; presumably this was the earlier school house. It appears that Mr. Melcher removed that structure to build his own house that was recently removed and is now part of Quigley’s car lot. It is not clear if this was the first schoolhouse or if there was one earlier than this one which is shown on a road draft dated 1797 and stood until 1873.
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Fr. Bally built the next schoolhouse that was located in the front yard of the rectory and to the left of its entrance. This is the noted St. Aloysius Academy that was built in 1856. It is mentioned in the April 11, 1857 edition of “The Catholic Herald & Visitor,” as “the new and spacious schoolhouse.”
St. Aloysius Academy was a more modest country school than its name suggests. True to the Jesuit mission in education, the school offered instruction for the "whole person" in a curriculum that promoted the faith and the traditional features of classical learning. From its early days, too, both Catholic and non-Catholic students enrolled in the school, one indication of the common cultural value placed on religion and religion and enlightenment in colonial Pennsylvania.
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(Fr. Augustin Bally, Pastor, 1837-1882)
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The next schoolhouse, built by Fr. Misteli, was the brick structure on Pine Street, known by the congregation as “The Old School.” It was built in 1893, after the arrival of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, who came in 1889. The Old School still stands and is used for a variety of parish activities.
Msgr. Charles Allwein built a “New School” in 1953. While the Sisters of St. Francis were teaching there; it had been known as Most Blessed Sacrament School. When the Sisters left in 1993 after teaching here for 104 years, the pastor at the time, Rev. James Bechtel renamed the school in honor of St. Francis to note their long service.
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