Our History – San Xavier Mission School

San Xavier Mission School has a long and rich history, beginning with its founding in November of 1864, nine miles south of Tucson in the San Xavier District on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation. The school sits to the west of the San Xavier Mission which was established in 1692.

San Xavier Mission School closed shortly after opening due to lack of funds and reopened under the care of an Indian agent and the tutelage of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. The Sisters worked with the children and cared for the sick. In 1874, the San Xavier Indian Reservation was established by executive order of the federal government. The school closed two years later when the Indian agencies were consolidated and the Indian agent moved to the Gila Indian Reservation.

In 1888, the Sisters of St. Joseph reopened the school with grades 1 – 4. Various sources of funding supported the school during the 44 years that the Sisters of St. Joseph served the community. These sources included the families of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the religious community of the Sisters of St. Joseph, as well as other benefactors and the federal government of the United States.

In 1940 the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity from Manitowoc, Wisconsin arrived at San Xavier Mission School. The Sisters worked to expand the school through eighth grade. Classes were held in three classrooms attached to the back of the San Xavier Mission. There were sixty-six students, aged five to twenty. In 1945, a new school was built which provided two classrooms with a hall and a stage.

Two additional classrooms were added in the 1950’s. The hall became a cafeteria, and a playground area was cleared north of the school in 1977. A single wide trailer provided a kindergarten classroom for the school in 1981. The first kindergarten teachers were two Tohono O’odham women who had been aides at the school. In 1986 the Fairfield Corporation of Tucson became aware of the growing needs of the school, and along with a group of sub-contractors, Fairfield donated services and materials to remodel the school. The open patio was enclosed to make space for a library and two offices and another roof was added to create a proper kindergarten classroom. The school continued to expand in the fall of 1988 as portable classrooms were provided for first and second grades.

San Xavier Mission School exists because of the generosity of a myriad of public agencies and the persistence of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor (OFM) of the Province of Saint Barbara and the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Pictures by the Historical Society Museum

1980 W San Xavier Rd Tucson, AZ 85746

(520) 294-0628

School Office Hours:

Monday – Friday from 8am to 4pm