St. Mary Central Catholic School has maintained its mission “to teach as Jesus taught” these past 50 years because of the prayers, hard work, determination, and belief in Catholic education of many religious, clergy, educators, and volunteers. St. Mary’s School of Odessa, Texas opened its doors in September 1960, with an initial enrollment of 108 students assigned to grades Kindergarten through third. In the first two years the school was staffed by volunteers who gave of their time and talent so children of Odessa could receive a Catholic education. In the fall of 1962 the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate from Amarillo came to serve as Principal and teachers of grades one through five. Our selfless volunteers continued providing support by running our Kindergarten until 1979. The Daughters of Charity sent a sixth grade teacher in 1982, a principal in 1985 and a fourth grade teacher in 1987. A Living Word Sister also joined the team in 1987 to teach 3rd grade. Since 1988 lay administrators have served as Principal of the school.
Through scholarships and sacrifice St. Mary’s is able to serve all members of the Catholic community who come from various economic backgrounds. Despite efforts to maintain growth hard economic times impacted enrollment causing the discontinuation of various grades at different times. In 1965, the school opened its doors to seventh and eighth graders for one year. In August of 1998 the school attempted a seventh grade followed by an eighth grade. By 2001-2002 school year, both grades had been discontinued due to low enrollment and finances. In 1982, a preschool program was established at St. Mary’s. The 3K and 4K programs have been added and removed periodically through the years depending on enrollment and finances. The Montessori program was implemented in the 3K, 4K, and Kindergarten in 1999. Currently there is a full day Montessori PreK and Kindergarten taught by Montessori certified teachers.
The Daughters of Charity provided a grant in the 1997-1998 school year enabling the school to build a wellness center. At that time Texas Tech Nursing program partnered with St. Mary’s to provide health fairs for the community and take care of the health needs of the students until 2003 when funding was cut. Currently, services such as vision screening and hearing screening are provided by volunteers from the community. The wellness center has been (and continues to be) used for a variety of activities such as physical education classes, religious preparation classes and retreats, school assemblies, sporting events, and festivals.
The Library relocated in 2002 to a larger space and increased the volume of books. In addition, the library was able to include computers for students to research and take their reading tests for the accelerated reading program. The number of titles in the Library has increased through yearly book fairs and generous donations.
