History

Our school is named for a man and a saint whose watchword was courtesy. St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and Doctor of the Church, was born in 1567 and died in 1622. He was a man of the Renaissance, obtaining a bachelor's degree in the arts and his Doctorate in both Civil and Canon Law.

St. Francis de Sales was a gentleman. His courtesy was more than surface; it was charity in action. No one fell outside the scope of his charity because everyone was the object of his love. Our namesake is an excellent model for all educated in St. Francis' classrooms.

The School Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Joliet, Illinois staffed the St. Francis de Sales parish schools since 1893. In the late 1890s the school began to offer high school courses. In the fall of 1937, due to the increased demands for higher education, St. Francis de Sales became a four year high school, with an enrollment of 180 students. St. Francis presented diplomas to the 21 seniors who comprised its first four-year graduating class on June 11, 1939. In the 1950s enrollment saw a significant increase and it became evident that if the school were to meet the educational challenges before it, an expansion of facilities was eminent.

The East Side community readily accepted the challenge. The desires of the parishioners, combined with the untiring efforts of the late Samuel Cardinal Stritch and the late Monsignor Alphonse Memmesheimer, then pastor of the parish, along with the continued support of Albert Cardinal Meyer, saw ground broken for a new school on February 19, 1956. Two years later, on April 20, 1958 Msgr. Memmesheimer presided at the dedication of the new St. Francis de Sales High School. Since 1962 St. Francis de Sales High School has been sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The current facility houses 30 classrooms and laboratories, a cafeteria, gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms and a chapel. Recent renovations have been made to the science and computer labs. St. Francis de Sales provides a safe and enriching environment where students and teachers can come together to learn, worship and grow.

We are proud of the important role we play in the community. St. Francis de Sales anchors the southeast Chicago neighborhoods of the Eastside, Hegewisch and South Chicago. We draw students from other Chicago neighborhoods, as well as south suburban communities and northwest communities of Indiana.

Nearly 45% of our current student body attended public grammar schools and junior high schools. A little more than 50% of our current student body is from the neighboring communities surrounding St. Francis de Sales.