St. Brendan School is a Catholic, parochial elementary school nestled in the space between Koreatown, Windsor Square and Hancock Park neighborhoods and its students pull from these boundaries as well as an extended boundary of the mid-Wilshire, Hollywood, and south Los Angeles neighborhoods. Our socio-economic profile is as diverse as our geographic profile with most parents being in the middle class, are well-educated, and holding professional employment. The success of the students during their enrollment at St. Brendan School, as well as after graduation, speaks to the high standards and rigorous program offered at St. Brendan School.
St. Brendan School first opened along Western Avenue between Second and Third Streets in 1915, staffed by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. In 1927, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) replaced the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. In 1988, the administration of the school was assumed by a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and that continued until 2018. The charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet – Unity and Reconciliation – has permeated the school through the spirit of the documents and traditions, as well as the day-to-day operations.
In 1960, the school building on Western Avenue was demolished because of safety concerns, and a new school building was constructed on the opposite side of the school yard facing Manhattan Place. St. Brendan School currently consists of three large buildings: two classroom buildings and the Fleming Family Center. The south building includes homerooms for 1st through 6th grades, as well as the main office, staff work rooms, computer lab, music room, art room and library. The transitional kindergarten classroom, kindergarten classroom, science lab, middle school art room, history room and 7th through 8th grade homerooms occupy the north building.
The Fleming Family Center is used as both an auditorium and gym and includes an industrial kitchen which is used for student lunches and special events on campus. The center also hosts St. Brendan Basketball Association (SBBA) and Goldie's Youth Sports, neighborhood recreational basketball leagues. Through these leagues St. Brendan School's physical plant addresses the needs of our school community and the surrounding community. Both leagues are hugely popular and a great boon for our school.
St. Brendan School has undergone various plant improvements including installations of SMART Boards in 2020, renovations to the four bathrooms in the south building in 2022, and installation of turf on the Gus Deppe Memorial Field in spring of 2023. Most recently, a new transitional kindergarten classroom with bathrooms was constructed in the summer of 2023.
