Hundreds of alumni, past and present staff, students and other community members gathered Saturday to celebrate Saint Agatha Academy’s 100 years of nurturing children spiritually and academically.

They began in worship at St. Joseph Catholic Church before moving to the fellowship hall for dinner and student performances. Students showed their recitation skills, performed skits, sang and played music.

Families could then tour the classrooms, flip through books full of pictures and documents from the academy’s past and more during the event.

On Sept. 3, 1919, St. Agatha Academy formally opened with an enrollment of 54 students in elementary and high school courses.

The academy’s namesake is an homage to its founding day: Feb. 5, which is the feast day for Saint Agatha of Sicily.

Six days later, a small double cottage adjacent to the church became a boarding house for 12 students. Tuition ranged from $25 a year for primary grades and $60 in the graduating year. Boarders paid $250 to $300 annually.

The Sisters of Divine Providence owned and operated the school and provided six teachers. 

Now, 100 years later, the school sits on the same corner in downtown Winchester. It is much larger now, with more than 120 students enrolled from 3- and 4-year-olds in its Montessori program to its eighth graders.

St. Agatha employs a little more than 20 staff, and the Sisters of Divine Providence no longer own the academy, but they do sometimes stop in for a visit. 

Today, St. Agatha offers a classical education as well as many special classes and extracurricular activities including physical education, Latin, music, band, basketball and more.

While much growth and change has happened over St. Agatha’s 100 years on the corner of Boone Avenue and Main Street, one thing has remained constant: St. Agatha Academy staff, students, parents and more have always been a family, Susan Wallace, who has been a teacher at St. Agatha for 33 years, previously told The Sun.