Located in St. Lucie County, St. Anastasia Parish School serves its parish as well as other parishes of the Palm Beach Diocese including Holy Family, St. Lucie, St. Mark, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Martin de Porres, St. Bernadette, St. Helen, Holy Cross, St. Joseph, Holy Redeemer, St. Sebastian and Notre Dame Mission.

St. Anastasia had its beginnings in 1914 when Father Gabriel Ruppert, O.S.B. had it built. From 1919 to 1924, the St. Lucie County School District used the facilities free of charge. Then in September 1926, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Adrian, Michigan, came to staff the school. Sisters Generosa Solon, Jane Francis Woelkers, and Sabina Mack opened the school to 52 students.

As the student population grew, so did the need for more buildings. In 1932, St. Anastasia added its first year of high school. Each subsequent year witnessed the addition of another class, so by 1936, St. Anastasia had all four grades of high school, and its first graduating class graduated five students. Addressing the needs of black students who wanted a Catholic education, Blessed Martin School on Eighth Street opened its doors in September 1940. In the meantime, St. Anastasia’s total enrollment had grown to 201 students in 1951 encompassing grades one through twelve.

Because of steady growth, by 1960 St. Anastasia Elementary School had expanded to a new location on 33rd Street, and the school on 10th Street served as the high school. At that time, St. Anastasia School became racially integrated, so Blessed Martin School closed its doors.

With such continual growth, the Bishop designated the high school as a diocesan high school in 1962. Three years later in 1965, the present John Carroll High School on Delaware Avenue opened its doors. Growth and relocation required everyone in the old 10th Street school building to vacate.

Five years later in 1970, Father Michael Beerhalter directed that three portable classrooms be added to St. Anastasia’s campus because of increased enrollment. By 1980, Father Edward Condren added three additional classrooms to meet growth demands.

For the next 16 years, St. Anastasia had many new facilities come to fruition due to the efforts of Father Mark Christopher. In 1983, he added two kindergarten rooms to meet enrollment demands, and the former convent became the Monsignor Beerhalter Media Center housing the school library, guidance office, art room, development office, religion resource room, small devotional chapel, Title I Program and enrichment program. By 1989, Father Christopher had a state-of-the-art computer laboratory and a spacious music room constructed to form the Media Center’s east wing. A sports pavilion was erected to enhance the school’s physical education and sports program in 1991. In 1993, the completion of the Bergalis and Wolf buildings created eight new classrooms. These additions have allowed St. Anastasia to meet the enrollment demands by offering two classes each of kindergarten through eighth grades. At this point in time, enrollment exceeded 600 students. To meet administrative needs, the Alice M. Clark Administration building was constructed in 1997.

In order to enhance the Band Program at St. Anastasia School, the multi-faceted Louise Beerhalter Band Room was constructed in 1998. Today, over one hundred students in grades five through eight are actively involved in the Band Program. Upon the completion of the band facility Father Mark Christopher retired, thus ending his legacy to St. Anastasia School.

Under the leadership of Father Michael Woodcock as pastor, campus expansion continued. Four additional classrooms were constructed adjacent to the Administrative Offices providing space for classrooms to be relocated, thus freeing the Bergalis Building and allowing it to become the Vincent and Lillian Guettler Pre-School complex serving seventy-five 3 and 4 year-olds. In 2000, St. Anastasia Catholic School welcomed Pre-School students for the first time.

To serve the many varied needs of our students and faculty, a state-of-the-art Media Center was completed for the opening of the 2006-2007 school year. The plans for this facility had been many years in the making under the leadership of Father Woodcock, Father O’Toole, Father George, the present pastor, and the school administration under the leadership of Mrs Vickie Guettler and Mr. Thomas Boedicker. Construction of the facility was scheduled to begin in 2004, but had to be delayed because of the impact of two major hurricanes: Frances and Jeanne in September of that year.

Since its inception, St. Anastasia has grown under the administrative guidance of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Adrian, Michigan. Former principals of the school include: Sister Kathleen Marie Barry; Sister Grace Agatha Dillion; Sister Mary Catherine Jordan; Sister Evangeline Marie Loveridge; Sister Anne Elizabeth Monahan; Sister Jean Elizabeth Nugent; Sister Mary Evangela O’Hare; Sister Mary Reilly; Sister Marguerite Renuart, Sister Mary Ann Rissert; Sister Laura Simmons, Sister Generosa Solon; Sister Mary Eleanore Unvarsky; and Sister Clare Daniel Watson. A Sister of the Order of St. Ann served briefly until Mrs. Vickie Guettler replaced her in 1982 as the school’s first lay principal. Mrs. Guettler continued to serve in that capacity until 2004. Mr. Thomas Boedicker assumed the leadership role of the school in August of 2004 and continues to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the school.

Today, eighty years since its founding, St. Anastasia Catholic School remains the only Catholic elementary school in St. Lucie County, and is presently serving the needs of nearly seven hundred students and their families.