About Saint Ann Catholic School (SACS)

Mission Statement

Since 1956, the mission of Saint Ann School has been to provide a Christ-centered, quality Catholic education and encourage all aspects of each individual child’s development with particular emphasis on spiritual and intellectual growth---an Education of Mind, Body and Spirit.

Our Philosophy

The fundamental purpose of Saint Ann School is to promote the teachings of the Catholic Church and to instill in its students a profound and personal spirituality. The school seeks to provide a unique setting where spiritual, academic, emotional, social and physical growth is realized within our faith community. The faith community is strengthened and nourished by active participation in liturgy and prayer. The school develops Catholic values and attitudes within its students, faculty and staff and emphasizes our responsibility to bring Christ to others.

Academically, students are afforded the opportunity to advance their individual abilities and to realize their unique talents. This is accomplished by the faculty and staff being responsive to the needs of the students, empowering them with skills and factual knowledge that stimulates creative thinking and by uniting the Christian community in prayer, work and love. Our pursuit for academic excellence is strengthened by our common love for Jesus Christ and the depending of our children’s faith and trust in God.

Education is one of the most important ways by which the Church fulfills its obligation to the dignity of the person and the building of community, by nurturing a commitment to serving others. Saint Ann School echoes the words of the United States bishops’ document To Teach as Jesus Did:
“Proclaiming the Gospel is a perennial task and joy for the Church of Jesus Christ. Rarely, if ever, has it been more pressing a need, more urgent a duty and more ennobling a vocation than in these times when mankind stands poised between unprecedented fulfillment and equally unprecedented calamity.“Catholic education is an expression of the mission entrusted by Jesus to the church He founded. Through education, the Church seeks to prepare its members to proclaim the Good News and translate this proclamation into action.”

History

In the late 1930s, there were just nine Catholic families in Naples. Since the closest parish was in Fort Myers, vacationing priests and priests from neighboring cities came to celebrate Mass each week in the old Naples Theatre (a site now occupied by Marissa’s shop on 3rd Street South) and later in the Solarium of Naples Hotel near the Municipal Pier (now a parking area for the Third Street South shopping district).

As the number of families increased along with Naples’ explosive growth, the Archdiocese of St. Augustine approved construction of Collier County’s first Catholic church. Named for the young deceased daughter of a founding parishioner whose patron saint and namesake was St. Ann, Saint Ann Church celebrated its first Mass on Palm Sunday, 1950. The original church is now used as the Parish Hall.

The need for a parish school soon became apparent. In 1956, Pastor Timothy Geary opened Saint Ann School to provide a Catholic education for the 100 families of the parish. While construction of the school’s initial buildings progressed, the Sisters of St. Joseph held classes in the choir loft of the church, under the giant banyan tree next to the church, and in the parking lot. During inclement weather, classes were also held in the Naples Hotel. The completed 8-classroom building (on the site of the new Middle School and Administration buildings) welcomed the school’s 140 students in September 1957.

As Naples continued to develop, the parish and school expanded. The existing church building was dedicated on March 14, 1970. In 1975, two new classrooms and a library were added to the school. In 1984, the school added the Gymnasium and in 1987, a science laboratory. In 1991, the church building was renovated and expanded to its current state.
With an enrollment of 350 students in 1996, the school began an ambitious program to build and upgrade campus facilities. The parish Convent was remodeled into new Parish Offices in 1999. The Saint Joachim Chapel and new 20-classroom Elementary School building were completed in the fall of 2000. In August 2001, the new Media Center and Administration buildings opened and in June 2002, the new Middle School building was completed. The Saint Ann Jubilee Center was complete in January 2006. It houses a gymnasium, cafeteria, auditorium, and meeting facilities.

Today, Saint Ann School, one of 14 schools in the Diocese of Venice, has an enrollment of about 400 students while Saint Ann Parish is the spiritual home for more than 2,000 registered families.

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