St. James School

St. James Church and School Historical Timeline

1900s

  • 1902-St. James Church was founded in 1902 by 26 Catholic families as a mission Church with visiting pastor Fr. James Linden who also served St. Mary’s in Des Plaines.


  • 1904-Arlington Heights’ Catholics purchased land along State Road (now Arlington Heights Road) to build a new Church.


  • 1905-The original St. James Church was built, the cost was $5,293. It was 38 x 70 feet, with a seating capacity of 220.


  • St. James remained a mission Church of St. Mary’s in Des Plaines for twenty years with Fr. Linden serving as visiting pastor from 1902-1922.


1920s

  • 1921-There were 294 members in the Church. They petitioned Cardinal Mundelein for our own resident pastor.


  • 1922- Fr. Peter Gall was sent to St. James. He first lived with a parishioner’s family until a Rectory could be built at 819 N. Arlington Heights Road.

  • 1926-Fr. Gall knew we needed our own school and so he directed the construction of a school to be built at 821 State Road. It was built at a cost of $24,850 and opened in 1926. Before St. James School was built, school aged children boarded with farming families in Buffalo Grove and attended St. Mary School there.

The original school had 4 classrooms, taught by four Sisters of Mercy nuns. Each classroom had two grades. The basement had a dirt floor which kids used as a gymnasium.

  • 1927-According to this newspaper clipping from 1927, just one year after the school opened, the enrollment was already 110 students!

1930s

  • 1930-Fr. John Wagner came to St. James replacing Fr. Gall.


  • 1932-Six School sisters of St. Francis headed by Sr. Ventura replaced the Mercy sisters. The nuns continued to live in part of the school building.

  • 1935-Fr. George Stier became the new pastor. He would serve at St. James for 25 years.

  • Mid 1930s, there were 195 families at St. James and around 5,000 people living in Arlington Heights.


1940s

  • 1943-Fr. Stier was good at raising and saving money and the parish was debt free by 1943.

  • 1947, the school sisters of St. Francis moved across the street into a spacious home purchased for $30,000. The intention was to convert the sisters’ living quarters into classrooms, however St. James did not have the money right away. So Fr. Stier did his very best to recruit volunteers to help. It took a few years but he found volunteers he needed to build classrooms and to convert the basement into rooms that could be used for classes and parish functions.

  • 1948-there were 400 families in the parish. Fr. Stier requested an assistant. Fr. Richard Rosemeyer was the first assistant pastor.

1950s

  • 1950-The post war population boom began in the area! In 1950, the population of Arlington Heights was around 9,000 people, but by 1960, it grew to almost 30,000 people!

  • 1950-The original 1905 Church was no longer adequate, it was moved out back onto Pine Street and converted into classrooms.

  • April 30, 1950 ground was broken for a new Church. While the church was being built, parishioners attended Mass in the school basement.

  • September 21, 1952-The new Church was dedicated.

  • 1952 there were 600 families in parish, and 555 children in the school.

  • 1954-Some classrooms had more than 50 students, Fr. Stier continued to build. He realized we needed to add onto St. James School. In 1954, 8 new classrooms were added to the school.

  • 1954- The rectory was built.

  • 1956-8 additional new classrooms were added to the school.


1960s

  • 1960-After 25 years at St. James, Fr. Stier became a Monsignor, the “highest ranking Catholic in the area.” During his time here he saw the parish grow:

-195 families to 1675

-4 nuns to 24

-127 students to 1,310

  • 1960’s-The population of Arlington Heights continued to grow, more than doubling to 65,000 people by the end of the decade.

  • 1960’s-St. James had 1600 families, and the school had an astronomical 1,550 students!

  • 1964-Fr. Edward Laramie came to St. James.


  • 1964-The new St. James Junior High school opened. “The first of its kind in the suburbs of Chicago” according to The New World newspaper.

  • 1968-Construction began on the new Parish Center or “Gym Church.”


  • April, 1969-The Parish Center was dedicated .

1970s, 1980s & 1990s

  • 1976-Mr. Rick McCafferty came to St. James School as principal until his retirement in 2003.


  • 1977-St. James celebrated its Diamond Jubilee.


  • 1978-St. James Parish had 2,400 families, 536 children in the school, 500 children in School of Religion.


  • 1980’s- St. James School hosted many team sports including basketball, volleyball and softball. The Saint James Athletic Program teaches and encourages Christian values as it promotes physical development, athletic skill, good sportsmanship, and school spirit.


  • 1991, there was a waiting list to sign up for kindergarten. Mr. McCafferty recalls as many as 47 parents lined up outside his office by 6:15am. Parents began lining up at 4:30pm the previous afternoon and spent the night at school to get their children registered.


2000s

  • 2003-Mr. Rick McCafferty retired as principal and Mr. Phil Mesina became principal.


  • 2005-Mrs. Judy Pappas became principal of St. James School.


  • 2007-Construction began on a new school. After nine decades, the original St. James School building was no longer a safe and cost effective building. The cost of the project was $11 million dollars


  • 2008-The new school opened in the fall. It united the parish center, the junior high school, the parish offices and former convent into one connected building.


  • 2008-St. James School was nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School, a national School of Excellence.


2010s

  • 2010-Lee DeWyze, an SJS alum, visited St. James School on the Hometown episode of American Idol. Lee went on to win season 9 of American Idol on May 26, 2010!


  • 2013- Fr. Matt Foley became the pastor of St. James Parish.


  • 2017-St. James School celebrated its 90th Anniversary. The celebration began with a Mass followed by guided tours of the old school (before it was torn down) and a dinner dance in the Parish Center. The event was held on June 10, 2017.


  • 2018-St. James Church remodeling construction project began and the original St. James School was demolished .


  • Palm Sunday 2019-First Mass celebrated in the newly renovated Church.


  • 2019-Mr. Mike Kendrick became principal of St. James School.

2020s

  • 2020-As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, St. James School began e-learning on March 16, 2020 throughout the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year