A century of schooling

Lodi’s St. Anne’s School celebrating 100 years

St. Anne’s School will mark a milestone that few public education institutions can experience this spring.

The Catholic elementary school, located at 200 S. Pleasant Ave. will graduate its 100th class of eighth-grade students on May 25, the culmination of celebrating a century in existence.

“We are one of few schools to have made it to 100 years,” principal Elizabeth Mar said. “And for that, I just thank the Lord and the Lodi community for their continued support, the donors that have given to our school, the people that have really prayed and offered their hard-earned time into the school to keep it running.”

Mar said the school started its celebration last year with a gala to kick-off the 100-year commemoration.

Since then, the school has undertaken a variety of activities to recognize the milestone, from changing its logowear worn by students and faculty, to planning a year-end gala in April, to creating a time capsule scheduled to be opened in 25 years.

On Wednesday, the school welcomed Stockton Diocese Bishop Myron J. Cotta to campus to help bless the time capsule and celebrate its 100th anniversary.

The time capsule, a two-foot-long, one-footwide wooden chest, was filled with a variety of items created by St. Anne students, including a book about their memories of the 2022-23

school year, fun facts about themselves, and a collage about daily life on campus.

Students also included a school uniform and the pens and pencils they used to complete assignments, among other items.

The chest will be kept in the principal’s office and labeled as a time capsule until it is time to open it in the year 2048.

Mar has been at St. Anne’s for eight years, of which five have been as principal, and during that time, she said there has been tremendous growth, both academically and enrollment-wise.

More than 2,500 students have graduated from St. Anne’s since 1925. Statistics for 1923 and 1924 have yet to be entered into the school’s database. Some 25 students will graduate this year, and Mar said about 21 will go on to St. Mary’s High School.

“We have seen an increase in class sizes over the last several years, which is great for us as a school,” she said. (Families) are able to see what we give our students in terms of the faith — first and foremost — and the academic rigor that we provide.”

Mar added more families are beginning to consider St. Anne’s over public schools because of the close-knit community the campus and church provides.

Her staff and teachers get to know the students and their families, and all of them worked together this past year to make Wednesday’s Mass and time capsule blessing possible, she said.

Julie Coldani has three children enrolled at St. Anne’s in the second, sixth and eighth grades. She said her eighth-grade daughter has excelled at the school, and is ready to attend St. Mary’s and start a journey to adulthood.

“Over the course of my time here (as a parent), I think our leadership has changed and has just grown into something beautiful,” she said. “Right now, the parish and the school are working so well together. The students have grown educationally and in their faith, and just in the sense that they are learning to be a good person.”

There have also been a few infrastructure changes over the decades, including the plaza garden between the school and church, the new playground, and the effort to remodel the school’s entryway to its original look.

While she did not have an exact date, Mar believed the school’s main entryway was changed to a drop ceiling some time in the 1960s or 1970s to accommodate a new air conditioning and heating system.

A few years ago, the ceiling was raised to its original state, she said.

Bishop Cotta said marking 100 years is quite the milestone for any kind of institution, and that it was a sign of perseverance.

The Diocese has 11 elmentary schools nd two high schools under its purview, and Cotta said they are have been able to stay open despite challenges over the years.

“Catholic education is a tremendous gift, a great alternative for the people, for families to consider, so they should come and check it out,” he said.

St. Anne’s Catholic Church has been in the Lodi area since 1876, with its first home in Woodbridge. The church moved within the Lodi city limits in 1891, and became a parish at its current location on Church and Walnut in 1904. A new church was dedicated in 1913, and the St. Anne’s School opened its doors on Sept. 9, 1922.

“It’s a humbling experience to be leading (the school) this year,” Mar said. “But it’s still exciting to what we’re able to do in education, within this community, and for the diocese at large.”