HISTORY OF ST. EUPHRASIA SCHOOL: CELEBRATING SAINTS & SCHOLARS
St. Euphrasia School became a reality on August 21, 1964 with the arrival from Louisiana of three sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Construction of the school at the parish site began in the winter of 1964-1965. Prior to that, school classes were conducted in a renovated building on the grounds of a neighboring Granada Hills parish, St. John Baptist de la Salle. Classes for grades 1-3 commenced in the fall of 1964.
Mother John Berchmans was assigned as the first principal, and also taught third grade. Sister Eugenie and Sister Valey taught 1st and 2ndgrades. A supportive parent’s organization, known as the Parent Teacher Cooperative was established in the fall of 1965. The permanent school buildings were completed in 1966, and the school then moved from the grounds of St. John Baptist de la Salle parish. At this time, the school enrollment consisted of 250 students in first through fifth grades.
Each year, a grade was added, with the enrollment increasing to 432 students in the first through eighth grades. The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana, replaced the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1972. They remained a part of the school until the year 1975. During that year, the school was transferred to an “all-lay” faculty. During the 1987-88 year, the first kindergarten class was started and the library and computer labs were then established.
The school enjoys an average enrollment of 245-255 students per year, with a maximum enrollment of 30 students per class, grades 1-8. Kindergarten has a maximum enrollment of 25 and TK has a maximum enrollment of 15 students. Our school mascot is a KNIGHT, and the school continues to carry on the parish tradition of honoring the past and celebrating the future.
ST. MARY EUPHRASIA PELLETIER
St. Mary Euphrasia was born Virginia Rose Pelletier (in France) during the French Revolution, on July 31, 1796. Her compassion for God’s hurting ones urged her to enter the Order of Our Lady of Refuge at Tours in 1814. As a Superior of the House of Tours, she founded a contemplative branch, which is now known as the Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd. These sisters express their charism in a life devoted to prayer, solitude, work, and austerity. In 1831, Mother Euphrasia became the Superior General of the Congregation of the Good Shepherd Sisters. She founded 110 convents on five continents during her lifetime.
Today, the Good Shepherd Sisters continue their missionary zeal to heal the broken-hearted, save the abandoned, fight for social justice and pro- life causes, and the bring hope into the lives of the marginalized, especially girls and women. The following are quotes of St. Euphrasia that continue to bring us meaning today: “One person is of more value than that of the whole world. “Nothing was too small, too arduous or too costly to put into action day or night for God’s little ones.”, and “If you always love one another, if you always uphold one another, you will be capable of working wonders!”
