Saint Gilbert Celebrates 75 Years With an Open House

Saint Gilbert Catholic Parish was founded in 1930 with its first services held in Doctor Anderson’s offices just across the street from current rectory. Despite the ravages of the Depression, with efforts of its Grayslake residents, a church and rectory were completed and dedicated in 1932.

However, that little storefront remained a part of the Parish so that, 12 years after the dedication of the Church, it was to become the first home of Saint Gilbert School.

It is telling that the School, like the Church, was founded in tumultuous times. However, rather than the Depression, they founded a school even as a world war raged. Yet, throughout August, 1944, despite rationing, they refitted the old storefront to become a school.

As the Catholic New World newspaper put it at the time: “After working a full day in factories, on farms and in offices, men and women from St. Gilbert Parish, in Grayslake, spend three hours every night constructing a school and convent to be ready in September.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Anderson’s residence, next to the school, was remodeled into a convent to accommodate the new teaching staff: Nuns of Blessed Virgin Mary Order. That order served the school until 1984.

With the end of the war, the Parish could now fully realize its dream of a dedicated school building. Their effort culminated in the dedication of the main school building that still is home to Saint Gilbert’s Pre-K through 3rd Grade classes. Cardinal Stritch dedicated the school building in 1949.

During the 1960s, Saint Gilbert Catholic School saw growth in a variety of building projects. Specifically, in 1961, the convent building was completed, and in 1965, a combined church-school building effort was initiated that led to completion the current church and a four room junior high building.

In the 1990’s Grayslake’s population boomed and Saint Gilbert School grew. This effort saw convent converted into a junior high and the addition of two more classrooms in 1996.

With the campus complete and rise of our digital century, Saint Gilbert has upgraded its intellectual infrastructure, offering classes in Coding from 1st Grade to 8th, Robotics Club beginning in 2nd Grade as well as offering 1:1 Device ratios for integrated learning. With dedicated STEM and arts education classes, our students are well-rounded and ready to tackle the future. These efforts led to Saint Gilbert being selected as 2017 National Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content.

Interested in learning more? Come visit us on January 26, 2020 from 10 am to 12:30 pm at 231 East Belvidere Road, in Grayslake. Can't make it? You can also arrange a tour by calling 847-223-8600 or by emailing school.office@saintgilbertschool.org