PHILOSOPHY

We, the faculty and staff at St. Anastasia School, are committed to Catholic education. Believing that both Christ and the family are the heart of Christian education, we strive to provide an environment in which religious truths and values are integral. Our goal is to provide quality education which will both challenge and assist each student to develop spiritually, intellectually, psychologically, sociologically, aesthetically, and physically according to one's individual potential.

It is the faculty and staff's mission to do this, not only in a formal, instructional way, but also in a personal, caring, and supportive way for the school's student clientele, baptized Catholics who come from the local community and other neighboring parishes. Through teaching and example, we strive to lead students to Christ and to help them live as committed and active Catholics.

I

SCHOOL HISTORY

In September 1953, a class of St. Anastasia 1st graders began school in a bungalow on the grounds of the neighboring parish, St. Mark in Venice. Their teacher was Sister M. Augustine of the Bethany Order of Nuns. A 2nd grade class was added in the fall of 1954.

Construction of St. Anastasia's eight-room building began in March 1955, with 1st grade through 4th grade classes beginning in September of that year. The faculty members were two sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and two lay teachers.

In late 1956, Cardinal McIntyre requested the temporary use of some of the St. Anastasia classrooms for the newly formed St. Bernard High School. In March 1957, ground was broken for the second part of the school building. The first freshman class of St. Bernard occupied half of the building and the basement during the 1957-1958 school year.

Attendance at St. Anastasia grew rapidly. During each year from 1956-1959, an additional class was added. The school now includes grades one through eight. In 1960, a third portion of the school site began, and the convent was built. The first class of fifty-three students graduated from St. Anastasia School in June 1961.

From 1959 to 1963, a second class was added to each grade. By the 1963-1964 school year, St. Anastasia had sixteen classes of students. The enrollment reached a peak of 771 students in the 1964-1965 school year. The gradual expansion of the Los Angeles International Airport caused corresponding reduction in the size of the parish and in the number of children attending the school. Consequently, the original sixteen classroom school offered eight grades in eight classrooms. The additional classrooms provided space for a science room, teacher's lounge, audio-visual room, and a parish community room.

In 1981, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary withdrew. The  following year the school was under a lay administrator. In September 1982, a Sister of St. Joseph Carondelet assumed administrative duties.

Donations from the Fritz Burns Foundation made possible the expansion of a new library facility for the school in September 1983 and the opening of a kindergarten in September 1984. Further donations by the foundation allowed the opening of the a new Science Center in September 1986 and a Computer Center in September 1987. Since 1988, both the Fritz Burns Foundation and the William Hannon Foundation, through monetary grants, have continued to actively support St. Anastasia School.

In September 1988, the school came under the direction of a lay administrator.