About Us 

3 Year Old Preschool through 6th Grade

St. Mary’s is a Catholic School located next to St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Niles, Michigan. We offer an education with higher aspirations to 3 and 4 year old preschoolers through 6th grade. St. Mary’s School has as its foundation core Catholic values and proven curriculum trends in elementary education. Today, the three R’s--reading, writing and arithmetic--are uniquely blended with the values of religion, respect, and responsibility. Physical Education, Technology, Art, Music&Movement, and Spanish are offered to students as specials.

In a society in which mass media constantly inundates our children with the images of desire and materialism, we have a choice to provide our children with a safe haven of peace and moral stability. St. Mary’s School is such a place! Religion is an integral part of the daily curriculum at St. Mary’s. This enables our children to build a sense of accountability for their actions and a deep-seated compassion for others. St. Mary’s School education helps children with the choices they must make as they mature in today’s complex world.

A tradition of academic excellence is deeply rooted in St. Mary’s School. It began with the founding of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Niles, in 1847 by Father E. Sorin, founder of The University of Notre Dame. Major growth in the parish occurred between 1859 and 1892 under the guidance of Father John Cappon, who dedicated his life to the teaching of religion, reading, and writing to children.

Loved and honored by all who knew him, he began taking steps to expand the little brick church. The classic edifice we see today was completed in 1870. Since that time, St. Mary’s School has taken on a myriad of changes, yet instruction in core Catholic values and a dedication to the fundamentals in elementary education remain at its foundation.