Our History
The legacy of our great Catholic school heritage officially began with Northern Pacific
Railroad arriving in what is now Bismarck in 1873. Just two years later, the first Catholic
Church, St. Mary’s was constructed to minister to the growing number of Catholics arriving
in the Dakota Territories. In 1878, Fr. Chrysostom Foffa, OSB, was inspired to build a school;
St. Mary’s Academy and Boarding School. He staffed this school with four Benedictine sisters
fresh off the train from St. Joseph, Minnesota.
With his faith-filled promise and commitment to Catholic education for the community,
the school’s reputation grew. The sisters’ emphasis on structure, educational excellence and
deep faith was a welcome contrast to the rawness of frontier life on the prairie.
In 1908 the first permanent school building was constructed for the academy and boarding
school. In 1916 the first high school classes were offered with the first graduating class in
1922. In 1923, St. Mary’s constructed the church you see today.
Additional parishes and schools sprung up: Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in 1945 and
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Elementary School in 1946; St. Mary’s Central High School
in 1951 with the original high school building serving as the elementary school until 1977
when the new St. Mary’s Grade School was built; Saint Anne School was constructed in 1957
followed by the Church of Saint Anne in 1961; Corpus Christi Parish was completed in 1964
and finally Church of the Ascension opened in 1979.
From the Benedictine foundation, Catholic education in the Bismarck community has
thrived for nearly 140 years, educating tens of thousands of children and supporting families
by teaching the same faith they lived and breathed at home.
In 2012, the five Catholic parishes of Bismarck came together and formed Light of Christ
Catholic Schools. With this move came a mission-driven administration, unified operations
across all school locations and an enhanced curriculum inspiring academic excellence.
In 2013, Light of Christ 7th and 8th Grade Academy was opened on the St. Mary’s Central
High School campus as a “school within a school.” This move was another bold step to
accommodate the continued growth and demand for Catholic education. The decision to add
the academy was an overwhelming success.