St. Philip Neri Catholic School was borne from St. Philip Neri Parish, which itself was established in 1960 under the leadership of Fr. A. Charles Kenney. The downstairs of Building 1 on campus served as the first permanent structure Church in the parish and 8 classrooms were placed upstairs. Groundbreaking for the Building 1 took place in January 1961.
The school opened on the Kawanee campus for the 1963 school year with Mrs. Olga L. Neyrey serving as Principal (for 1961 and 1962, SPN students used classrooms at St. Mary Magdalen School). In the first year, the school served students from K-4 and had a faculty of 8 professionals, including Mrs. Neyrey and her office manager.
The completed "Building 1" Church first offered Mass at 7:00 AM on Sunday. October 29 1961.
An addition to the school was blessed by Archbishop Cody on September 15, 1963. In July 1964, three portable classrooms were positioned behind the school/Church building.
Groundbreaking for the current Church building, with Archbishop Hannan in attendance, took place in the late 1970s with the Church building opening a few years later.
Currently. SPN serves infants, one year olds, and two year olds in our dedicated Early Learning Center. On the main campus, SPN is a PK3-Seventh Grade School, with three sections in grades PK3-Fourth and two sections in each Middle School grade level in three school buildings.
SPN History: Photo Gallery (click to change picture)