Our History
| 1820 |
Daniel Carroll (owner of Duddington Manor) donates the land for the first Saint Peter's Church to be built and completed in 1821. |
| 1826 | Daniel Carroll writes the Archbishop of Baltimore and proposes opening a free Capitol Hill school for girls of humble families. |
| 1856 |
First Holy Cross sisters sent to the District of Columbia to open orphan asylum for boys at Tenth and G Streets, N.W. |
| 1864-65 | Providence Hospital builds a frame structure at Second and D Streets, S.E., across from future site of Saint Peter School. |
| 1866 |
Land for school donated to Saint Peter's Church by Thomas Bayne, a convert who was baptized at Saint Peter’s Church. |
| 1867 | Saint Peter School built on E Street between Third and Fourth Streets, S.E. The original phase of the school was the classroom portion adjacent to the upper playground. The new 45 foot by 115 foot pressed brick school contained a shallow basement and two upper stories both of which were open, undivided spaces flanked at each end by stair halls and 14 foot by 15 foot recitation rooms. All classes were held on the first floor, and the vaulted second floor was used as an auditorium and parish social hall. |
| 1867-68 |
The school opened with a faculty of the Reverend Boyle and two lay teachers. |
| 1911 | School children unable to return home at lunch offered charity hot lunch at Providence Hospital. |
| 1923 |
Saint Peter School is renovated. The open floor plan was changed so the first and second floors each had four new classrooms. Fireproof stairways were also added. The basement was dug out and lowered and a play area was created with separate spaces for the boys and girls. Indoor plumbing was added for the first time. |
| 1935 |
Saint Peter School had 631 students in the original building (2017 enrollment is 230). DC Fire Department gave notice that due to overcrowding the school would have to be closed in the coming year. |
| 1936 | Saint Peter School addition is built (the wing adjacent to the lower playground, which houses the main entryway, office, and floors above administrative and multipurpose rooms) and dedicated by Archbishop Curley in December in the Multipurpose Room. |
| 1943 | Basement of school converted to dining room. Kindergarten opens with Sister Odelia Koenig as the first Kindergarten teacher. Diamond Jubilee of Saint Peter School. |
| 1944 | On D-Day, Saint Peter’s students joined federal workers and members of Congress at a special noon service to pray for American soldiers. They were pictured on the front page of the Washington Post the next day. |
| 1945 | Saint Peter School library opens. |
| 1948 |
Washington, D.C. parochial schools under local control for the first time. |
| 1949 | First African-American students enroll at Saint Peter School. |
| 1949 | Playground paved for $1400. |
| 1950s | Parishioners paid no tuition, non-parishioners and non-Catholics paid $1-$2 per child. |
| 1956 |
Providence Hospital closes. Site eventually becomes Providence Park and is used by Saint Peter School children as a playing field. |
| 1957 |
Archdiocese announces plans to add sex education to parochial school curriculum. |
| 1960 | Catholics, parishioners, and non-Catholics paid $2.00 per child per year. |
| 1961 |
Washington Post reports on increasing use of lay teachers as parochial schools react to growing shortage of nuns. |
| 1968 | After-school program begins. |
| 1970 | Rev. Michael J. O’Sullivan is named School Pastor |
| 1971 | School roof blows off in high winds. |
| 1973 | Part-time professional school librarian hired. |
| 1974-77 | Consolidation of parish schools into Saint Peter's Interparish School. Students from St. Joseph’s, St. Dominic, and St. Vincent de Paul parishes were transferred to Saint Peter’s as their own parochial schools closed. |
| 1976 |
With Archdiocese subsidies drying up, tuition was increased to $400 for parish children and $500 for all others. |
| 1977 | Renovation of school building; school held in parish hall during portions of the renovation. A large portion of this was paid for by selling a portion of the school’s lot facing D Street, SE for $302,500. |
| 1978 | Rededication of the renovated Saint Peter School. |
| 1986 | First lay principal hired Mrs. Mary Randolph |
| 1988 | School endowment fund established through private donation. |
| 1993-94 |
School celebrates 125th Anniversary. The year began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Curlin. Nearly 200 alumni and former teachers and principals gathered for a May reunion weekend. Twelve Holy Cross nuns came to the reunion. Barbara Ochmanek and Kathleen Ann Murphy researched and wrote the early history of the school. |
| 1994 | Tuition rates approaching $3,000 per pupil. |
| 2000 | Mrs. Pamela Klobukowski is hired as principal. |
| 2001 | Car line is introduced. |
| 2005 |
School receives a $34,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an Anacostia River Project. PK-8th grade participate in conservation and environmental restoration projects on the river, including planting native grasses and cleanup. |
| 2007 | Fr. William Byrne is named School Pastor |
| 2008 |
Mrs. Jennifer Ketchum hired as principal. The Order of the Daughters of Saint Anne begin working with the school. Saint Peter School hires first school nurse. |
| 2010 | School Annual fund is relaunched. |
| 2011 | School Auction is moved from Parish Hall to National’s Park. |
| 2013 | Saint Peter School was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School as one of 50 private schools nation-wide to be recognized as "Exemplary High Preforming." To qualify for the award, standardized test scores in the areas of reading and math need to be in the top 15 percent across the nation. |
| 2014 |
At the direction of the school administration and Pastor Principal Advisory Board, the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) at Notre Dame University undertakes a complete review of school facilities, education programs, and finances. |
| 2015 |
Following the recommendations of the ACE Review, the school undertakes a parent-driven tuition review and update to ensure that tuition revenues are equal to or greater than the cost of school expenses so that it will remain on a self-sustaining and growing path into the future. |
| 2015 | Msgr. Kevin Hart is named School Pastor. |
| 2017 |
Fr. Gary Studniewski is named School Pastor. Ms. Karen Clay is hired as principal. |
| 2018 |
Greater Mission conducted a feasibility study for a capital campaign. |
| 2019 |
Saint Peter School is recognized for the second time as a National Blue Ribbon School. ADW approved parish’s petition to conduct school capital campaign. |
| 2020-22 |
Fundraising efforts were put on hold to allow for a singular focus on educating our students while protecting their health and safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| 2022 | Rev. Daniel Carson is named School Pastor. |
| 2023 |
The Cornerstone Committee reforms, revisiting post-pandemic building needs. Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Jean Zwald is awarded the first ever Golden Apple Award given to a Saint Peter School teacher from The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Principal Clay is named as the ADW's 2023-24 Distinguished Principal of the Year. |
| 2024 |
The Cornerstone Campaign is formally relaunched to undertake the final push on fundraising, design, permitting, and construction for modernization. |
Saint Peter School, approximately 1937.
5th Grade at the U.S. Capitol, circa 1985-86
Class of 1936, Saint Peter's Church Entrance
Class of 1945, Saint Peter's Church Entrance
Class of 1968, Saint Peter's Church Parish Hall