St. Joseph's School

St. Joseph's School is a Catholic elementary school in Moorhead, MN. St. Joseph's School serves 230 students in PK through 8th grade.

Who We Are

At St. Joseph’s School, various groups are selflessly working together to live out our three-part mission statement.  Together, our parents, students, faculty, staff, volunteers, parishioner supporters, and community supporters are working to lead children and families to Christ within the Catholic-Christian community; to foster the spiritual, academic, social, emotional, and physical development of each person; and to prepare our students to use their knowledge and faith to be a light for the parish, community, and world.  There is a purpose to our undertakings at St. Joseph’s School that distinguishes us from other schools and impacts our students throughout their lives.  Not only are we focused and vested in providing our students excellent educations, but in helping them grow into excellent people.  There is great work to be done at St. Joseph’s School, and we could not be happier to have you join us!

[For more information on our mission statement, please visit https://www.stjoesmhdschool.com/about-us/our-history/]

Our Story

St. Joseph's School is the oldest known school in the Red River Valley.  It is the parochial school of St. Joseph's Parish and St. Francis de Sales' Parish, both in Moorhead, Minnesota.

St. Joseph's School was originally formed by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph, Minnesota, in 1880 as the parochial school for St. Joseph's Parish. As the city and parish grew throughout the first half of the 20th century, there became a need for a new parish and school on Moorhead's north side. St. Francis de Sales' Parish and School were formed and built in the late 1940s. The two schools operated independently until 1990, when they merged as a preschool-6th grade elementary school. In 2007, the school added 7th and 8th grade, and undertook a building expansion project that included a science lab, a new library, and a state-of-the-art computer lab. In 2012, St. Joseph's School became quickly became a leader in educational technology with a one-to-one middle school learning environment, meaning each student in 6th-8th grade received a laptop that was taken from class to class and to home in the evening to complete homework. Now operating as a preschool through 8th grade elementary and middle school in Moorhead, St. Joseph's School is working hard to form their students into Saints.

[For more information on our history, please visit https://www.stjoesmhdschool.com/about-us/our-history/]