At the close of the second world war, the Minneapolis northwest suburbs of Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Park, and Maple Grove experienced extremely sizable growth. Archbishop John Murray recognized the need for a new Catholic church in the area, and the first Mass was celebrated in the newly formed parish of the Church of Saint Raphael on Sunday July 1st, 1951.
A large cornfield was purchased from a local farmer and ground was broken for a new school in October, 1951. The school was finished by the next August, and was dedicated on September 7th, 1952. Classes began that fall.
Since its founding, the Church of Saint Raphael has been a prominent, respected leader in the larger community. As the surrounding areas continued to grow, so did membership in the parish. By 1980 there were over 3,000 registered families, many of whom had children enrolled in the school.
Today, Saint Raphael remains a flourishing preschool-8th Catholic classical school grade serving families in the greater Twin Cities area. Our mission is to cultivate a family-centered community that classically forms students in a faithfully Catholic education, bringing forth joyful witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ. We respond to the call of the Church to provide Catholic classical education through:
- offering the most affordable tuition and scholarship packages in the area, especially in preschool, where tuition is only half the price of local competition.
- teaching our students that they are made in the image and likeness of God.
- seeking to instill Christian values, cultivating spiritual formation, and developing intellectual and personal excellence
- joyfully witnessing our Catholic identity in the sacraments, in daily habits of prayer, and Biblical tradition
- defending the Culture of Life by being unconditionally Pro-Life
- emphasizing virtue, integrity, and discipline in our curicular and co-curricular activities.
- forming students in wisdom so they may speak equipped in both faith and reason.