As St. Patrick Parish proudly celebrates its 133th year, our school is equally proud to celebrate its 53rd.  Rev. Walter Doherty, who was the priest from 1942-1956, saw the  need for more spiritual instruction of children and in 1955, set up a campaign to build a school.  Fr. Doherty was replaced by Rev. Joseph Hanauska in May 1956, who then made it his mission to complete Fr. Doherty's campaign.  The parish had purchased 20 acres of land in the northwest part of the city for the school, and Fr. Hanauska, through endless searching, gained a promise of three Notre Dame Sisters to teach if the school was ready to open by September 1958.  On May 14th, 1958 ground was broken for a new elementary school and on September 8th, Sisters Mary Frances, Mary Jane, and Mary Gabriel, School Sisters of Notre Dame, arrived.  Sister Mary Frances was the first principal.  Rev. Hanauska went as far as living in the sacristy of the church so the Sisters could have a suitable place to live--the rectory--while the school was being built.  On September 20th, the Sisters, lay teachers, women and children made preparations for the opening of the school.  Much work, sacrifice, and love were put into these operations.  On September 22, 1958, the school opened to 199 students, 49 more than the 150 already registered!  The dedication took place on May 17th, 1959, and the first graduation of 26 students took place on June 2, 1960.

Today, we continue to be dedicated to Catholic Education while promoting academic excellence.  Two of the top four Elkhorn Area High School seniors this year are St. Patrick graduates! Since 2001, nearly 80% of St. Patrick's graduates have achieved a 3.0 or better at Elkhorn Area High School. This includes eight ranked in the Top 10, one valedictorian, and one salutatorian.  St. Patrick graduates also have a high level of representation in the National Honor Society.  

In addition to academics, we offer our students a wide variety of extracurricular activities.  St. Pat's School has sewing, cooking, drama, game night, ski club, chess club, girls and boys basketball starting in fifth grade with nearly twenty league games, girls volleyball starting in fifth grade with nearly thirty games, football and student council. This social aspect of our school, when accompanied by the spiritual nurturing we offer along with the academics helps us to achieve our goal—that of developing the whole child—not just educating them.