The Marianites of Holy Cross opened St. Francis in October of 1870 on Point Street in Houma, Louisiana. In 1951, the school moved to current location. St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School is a Christian community of believers, which has the opportunity to be unique and the obligation to be contemporary. A basic aim of St. Francis is to communicate spiritual values that enable each individual to live a new life in Christ, and to build a new earth by living the Good News.

Keeping in mind that families are the first to communicate the Christian faith to their children and to educate them, our school community makes generous efforts to help parents fulfill their duty. It is our aim to be aware of each child's uniqueness, and it is our purpose to provide an educational setting involving a special degree of parent-school interaction and involvement with emphasis on family education. Students, families, and staff are given the experience of Christian community at worship, work, and play as an introduction to a lifestyle that takes its meaning and thrust from Christian community life.

Catholic education is a privileged means of ensuring the presence of a Christian mentality in our present-day society. Thus, St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School accepts the responsibility of contributing to this mentality by developing individuals who lend a Christian emphasis to the secular community, and who are a vibrant force in the building and maintenance of this community.

Therefore, students are provided with an orderly and serious academic environment. They are stimulated to relate their study to real life situations that will prepare them for survival in the world outside the classroom. The latest approaches in education are examined and utilized with an emphasis on innovation in organization, content, and method.

Value is placed on the development and enrichment of each student's self-esteem, self- confidence, values, morals, and knowledge for their personal development. The imparting of this affective task demands that all believers--families, students, staff and administrators--reveal the Christian Message by providing a prayerful, continually supportive environment, characterized by understanding, gentleness, and sensitivity to the attitudes, feelings and beliefs of others.