Our School’s History  

The parish of St. Mary’s (Croatian), now known as St. Mary Nativity, and was founded by 100 Croatian settlers in 1906. Within a year the school was opened and from its earliest days, St. Mary School began an integral part of the Joliet immigrant community. The untiring efforts of the Sisters of the Precious Blood from Alton, Illinois, who originally staffed the school, and later the School Sisters of St. Francis of Christ the King, who remain in the parish to the present, helped newcomers assimilate into the American culture.

Throughout the past 100 years, St Mary Nativity School has come to represent a school community where respect for difference prevails. Religious instruction forms the core upon which the curriculum is built, nurturing a deep Catholic faith in the lives of the children. St. Mary’s tradition of making a difference in the community is still true today. As an integral part of the parish and the city of Joliet, the school welcomes students of many nationalities and backgrounds. New waves of immigrants are still being assimilated into the American way of life, while preserving and strengthening their Catholic Faith.

The student body represents a wide spectrum of backgrounds. There are children whose forebear were founding families, those of second and third generation’s graduates, along with children whose parents newly arrived to the area come searching for a stable educational environment for their children.

n the fall of 2001, an Early Learning Center was established as an adjunct to St. Mary Nativity School. Using the vacant building at Holy Cross Church on Elizabeth Street , the center provides kindergarten and preschool educational opportunities for children, thus further enriching the school’s offering and preparing students for successful experiences in grade 1-8.