About Us

St. Anne's History

    St. Anne Catholic Grade School developed from the educational traditions of Jesus, the Catholic Church, and the Archdiocese of Detroit, and the Servants, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Monroe, Michigan). With the blessing of Cardinal Mooney, then the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Detroit, St. Anne Catholic Grade School was founded in 1949. Sr. Mary Lorenza, I.H.M. served as our first superior and principal.

    Mother M. Lorenzo was Superior for the first six years until 1955. She was succeeded by Mother Marie Irene.

    In 1961, Mother M. Michaeleen, I.H.M. became principal. During her service and leadership, she added thirteen classrooms that brought a total of twenty-six classrooms.

    The first classes of St. Anne High School were held in the partitioned gymnasium in the fall of 1965. There were eighty-one pupils and two teachers. Sister Christiana, I.H.M., the secondary principal, was one of the instructors. The new high school building opened January 3, 1966. It was the first shared-time high school in the nation. Four classes were taken at St. Anne: religion, history, English and biology. The others were at Warren High. The failure of Proposal C cut into the enrollment. The high school closed in 1988.

    From 1968 to 1978, the I.H.M. Sisters continued their wonderful educational ministry with Sr. Lois Morgan, I.H.M. serving as principal. During these years, the Catholic population continued to move from Detroit into the new neighborhoods surrounding St. Anne's. This decline in Catholic population in Detroit increased

    Sadly, the Servants, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary left St. Anne Catholic Grade School in 1978 due to the fact that the number of I.H.M. Sisters decreased student enrollment in our school. and a more Catholic school urban focus took effect within the order.

    Yet, the Adrian Dominicans (Adrian, Michigan) took on the leadership of the school in 1978 with Sr. Patricia Lynch, O.P. serving as principal from 1978-1983.

    In the fall of 1983, following Catholic school trends, St. Anne Catholic Grade School was led by its first layman principal, Dr. Thom Engel. Like the sister principals before him, Dr. Engel gave Christ's service, teaching and leadership to thousands of children for twenty-four years of faithful service. Dr. Engel retired in June of 2007.

    On July 1, 2007, Anthony G. Sahadi became the second layman and sixth Catholic school principal of St. Anne Catholic Grade School. Thanks be to God, the Catholic Church and Archdiocese of Detroit, our founders the Sisters, Servants Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Adrian Dominican Sisters, our pastors and priests, and thousands of students, parents, laywomen and laymen; St. Anne Catholic Grade School has built a wonderful legacy for us - today and tomorrow - to continue to follow and build for school years to come.