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St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School
An important part of the history of St. Joseph Parish was in the founding of a Catholic School. The Dominican Fathers secured the teaching skills of the Sister of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Texas. At that time, the school consisted of five classrooms in an adobe building. These sisters left in 1948, and lay teachers continued to staff the school until 1951, when two Spanish Dominican and two Filipino Dominican sisters came to Alice through the influence of the pastor, Fr. Angel Alvarez, O.P. Together with lay teachers, these four religious continued building a rich tradition of Catholic education at St. Joseph School. They were Sr. Isabel Montemayor, Sr. Purificacion Beltran. Sr. Josephine Conlu and Sr. Rosario Ozcariz.
In 1961, it was determined that the entire facility was inadequate and a new building was begun, completed and the eighth grade was added. The seventh and eighth grades remained under one sister until 1968; however, due to a lack of additional funds, the eighth grade was eliminated. By 1976, the staff was comprised of four lay teachers, four teacher’s aides and five sisters who also helped in the Parish’s religious education and other activities in the Church.
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