St. Peter was a brother of St. Andrew and his original name was Simon.  These brothers were fishermen of the Sea of Galilee.  When Simon was about forty years old, his brother Andrew introduced him to Jesus, our Divine redeemer, who gave him the name of Peter.  In time, Jesus told both Peter and Andrew that if they followed him, he would make them fishers of men.  St. Peter and St. Andrew became two of the Apostles of Jesus.

St. Peter proved the weakness of human beings by being the one that betrayed Christ during his time on earth by three times denying that he knew Jesus.  However, even though he spoke betrayal, St. Peter’s heart remained loyal and dedicated to Jesus.  Because of his experience with failure, and the compassion and mercy given to him by God, St. Peter showed tenderness and compassion to other sinners.

When Jesus asked his disciples what they thought he was, Peter answered that Jesus was the Son of the living God.  Due to his deep faith and devotion, Jesus gave St. Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  St. Peter preached about Jesus to many and was the founder of the Church.  St. Peter was the first Pope or Vicar of Christ on Earth and was given wonderful power and jurisdiction.  St. Peter died in A.D. 65.  His feast day is on June 29th.

The first St. Peter parish school was opened in 1861 by Reverend Peter McGirr. This school was located south of the church which was on 8th and Maine Streets. It was staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and had an enrollment of 250 students.

In 1921, the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood came to Quincy to staff St. Peter School, which was transferred to 11th and State Streets when Governor Wood’s property was purchased. Reverend John Driscoll was pastor at that time.

In 1949, the school building was built at 2500 Maine Street while Monsignor Thomas Cusack was pastor. This building was used as church and school until 1962. After the new church (the old church was destroyed by a tornado in 1945) was dedicated in January of 1962 with Reverend Joseph O’Brien as pastor, the church section in the main building was converted into classrooms. Eleven classrooms were located in this building. Three classrooms, a cafeteria, a meeting room and a kitchen were located in the lower level of the church building. The library, St. Peter Holy Childhood Pre-School, and the computer lab were located in Father Tolton Hall (the former convent).

A new gym and kindergarten classroom were completed for use in August of 1979 under the direction of Reverend Arthur LeBreton, pastor.
Father Roy Bauer came to St. Peter Parish in May of 1985. During his arrival a new playground area and additional parking was being constructed east of the present complex. This was completed in 1987.

The year 1988 marked the beginning of several new educational programs: Learning Disabilities/Remedial Resource classroom, Educable Mentally Handicapped (EMH) classroom, and the Holy Childhood Pre-School. In 1990 a primary EMH program became a part of the special education program. A full time vocal music teacher was added to the staff in 1991. In 1999 the music program was discontinued.

In keeping with modern technology the school incorporated into the curriculum the use of computers with the addition of the networked IBM computer lab in 1992. In 1995 a full time computer teacher was added to the program. During the summer of 1999 the computer lab was updated by replacing the original computers with 34 new workstations and a new system.

TIMELINE

• Spring 1993- The St. Peter School Advisory Board was formed. The Board is an advisory board dealing with matters pertaining to the educational programs and facilities of the parish school.
• 1994-1995 school year – beginning of a full time P.E. program.
• 2000-2001 school year – music was reinstated in the curriculum.
• 2001-2002 – Addition of new Kindergarten on South end of the gym; St. Peter School began all day kindergarten.
• October of 2001 – Seton Hall, which houses grades 7 & 8 was completed. This new addition allowed for space in the church basement to convert two classrooms into a music room and a meeting room – the Martha Jane room. With the completion of this building the music program has its own room and the Martha Jane room is available for school and parish meetings.
• The EMH program closed its doors at the end of the 2003-2004 school year.
• Father Daniel Bergbower joined our parish family July 1, 2004 after the retirement of Father Roy Bauer June 30, 2004.
• Beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, the preschool became a part of St. Peter School due to the reorganization of the Quincy Catholic Schools.
• Summer of 2008 – ground breaking and construction of an addition to the original school building and an additional room behind the kindergarten south room. (Renovations on the Church of St. Peter began at this time also.) Father Bergbower completed four years as pastor of the Church of St. Peter on June 30, 2008, to become full time chaplain with the Air National Guard.
• Spring of 2009 the classrooms located in the basement of the church were moved to the new addition that was constructed on the south side of the existing 1949 school building.
• Father John Burnette served our parish family July 1, 2008 – October 2010.
• Summer of 2009 – completion of the new kindergarten room, the computer lab, the new entry into the school which included enclosing the walkway between the school and gym, remodeling the school office with a new entry door and windows for visibility into the hallway, and moving the preschool to the former kindergarten north classroom. The remaining classrooms in the 1949 building had additional electrical outlets and data ports installed and received a fresh coat of paint.
• Fr. Dan Bergbower returned and served as an interim pastor from October until the end of December in 2010.
• January 2011 – Msgr. Leo Enlow became our current pastor.
• Close of the 2010-2011 school year – Adopt-a-Desk drive took place. Generous donations by school parents and parishioners provided grades 1-6 with new desks for the 2011-2012 school year.
• Summer of 2011 – construction of the parking lot behind the school allowed for a separate area to load and unload buses.
• Summer of 2012 – advancements were made to support technology by installing an infrastructure for both the parish and school to support the future use of technology in the classrooms and campus.
• 2012-2013 – Preschool days increased from 2 days for 3 yr. olds to three days and from 3 days to four days for 4yr. old program. A new classroom was created in the basement of the church for the 3 year old program.
• Summer 2013 – Phones and security were updated.
• Summer 2014 – New playground, iPads for 3rd, 7th and 8th grade, roof on gym, church and rectory.
• June 2015 – Mrs. Janet Bick retires after 33 years at St. Peter (6 years of teaching, 27 as principal.)
• July 2015 – repairs to the gym ceiling & walls, newly paved parking lot, renovation of main school bathrooms
• Summer 2016 – Renovation/addition of school offices, book room/conference room, library, and 2nd grade classroom/concrete repair near between rectory and church/park road repaired, and cafeteria floor replaced along with cafeteria being repainted.