In 1935, a Daughter of Charity sister from St. Vincent School in Santa Barbara buried some medals in the ground at the original St. Raphael Parish site on Mandarin Avenue in Goleta.  Sister Alix, a Daughter of Charity, was praying that a Catholic school would one day be built in the Goleta area.  In 1961, Reverend William Ralph Harvey moved the parish to a new seven-acre site at 5444 Hollister Avenue.  Sister Alix’s prayers were answered when construction began on an eight-classroom building in 1963.

St. Raphael School opened its doors to 189 students in grades one through four on September 10, 1963.  The school was staffed by three Immaculate Heart Sisters and two lay teachers. The following year the school opened to grades one through eight.

In 1968, the Immaculate Heart sisters departed and five Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Sisters arrived from San Francisco.  This was the first year that St. Raphael School had a full-time principal.  The eighth grade class organized a student council so that the students could participate in the governing of their school.  The Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Sisters left in 1975 with a student population of 275.  After that, the staff was composed of all lay teachers and the first lay principal.  

St. Raphael School lives today by the similar charisms of the Daughters of Charity, the Immaculate Hearts and Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Sisters.  These religious orders all believed in education with a special emphasis on educating the poor.  The St. Raphael School mission follows these charisms by educating all children in preschool through eighth grade in mind, body and spirit by imparting the values of Jesus through a rigorous curriculum, devoted faculty and an actively involved parent community.  All of these values came from our founding Sisters and those that served at St. Raphael School. ​