Holy Cross School is a Catholic, co-educational, parish, diocesan school founded by the Daughters of Charity in 1862. Addressing a great need in the Santa Cruz area, the school was initially an orphanage, then gradually evolved into a resident facility for needy students and a day school for Catholic girls of Santa Cruz. In 1926, the parish built the Holy Cross School building on High Street where a coeducational day school was established for grades one through twelve. The residential facility at the corner of Mission and Emmet Streets continued in existence until 1942 when the Daughters of Charity closed it and transferred the remaining boarder to St. Mary’s I San Francisco. In September 1944, the Daughters of Charity withdrew in order to free more of their members to become involved in nursing. The Adrian Dominican Sisters then replaced the Daughters of Charity in the parish school.
Holy Cross Grammar School was constructed on the site of the old orphanage in 1958 to relieve crowded conditions in the High Street building. Grades seven and eight remained in the older building with the high school classes. In 1970, at the request of the bishop, grades nine through twelve were discontinued. In 1977, the present middle school building was constructed. The facilities on the corner of Mission and Emmet Streets now house grades kindergarten through eight. In 1999, at the request of the school and parish communities, a new building was erected to house a gym and parish hall serving both Holy Cross School, Parish, and the greater Santa Cruz community. The Holy Cross Preschool was opened within the lower level of this structure.
