The earliest known school photo. (1892)

The history of St. John the Evangelist Catholic School started due to Military presence here in Pensacola and the families they brought with them for various supportive jobs in the mid 1800’s.

date of picture unknown

The Navy’s permanent establishment in Pensacola began in 1825 with the founding of the Navy Yard on Tartar Point.  In 1828, to accommodate the approximately five hundred workers and their families, the U.S. government authorized the building of two villages adjacent to the Navy Yard. The villages were named Warrington and Woolsey.  Original Warrington settlers reflected a substantial Irish and Spanish influence and it was estimated that 90% of Old Warrington was Catholic.  In 1850 the Secretary of the Navy authorized construction of a Catholic church on the Navy Yard to accommodate the spiritual needs of the workers and their families and on May 4^th 1851 St. John the Evangelist Church was dedicated.  It wasn’t until 1874 that the Sisters of St. Joseph opened St. John’s Academy.  However, this was during an epidemic of Yellow Fever and the Sisters spent much of their time caring for the sick. This epidemic claimed the lives of many in this area including two of the Sisters. They were no longer able to care for the school and community and in 1878 the Sisters of Mercy succeeded the Sisters of St. Joseph as teachers at the school. 

On October 6, 1882 fire destroyed St. John’s church, school, and convent.  After the fire the Sisters continued to teach in a rented house.  The community survived yet another horrific Yellow Fever epidemic in 1905 (the last in Pensacola’s history) and the great hurricane of 1906, however in 1911 the era of steel ships being built instead of wood closed the Navy Yard leaving many parishioners forced to leave the area to look for work elsewhere. Through all of this the School bell still rang and the Church still prayed.  Life turned around for the Warrington area with the announcement in 1914 from Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the Navy Yard would re-open as the Pensacola Aeronautical Station, however St. John’s Church, Convent and School, would need to move it’s building off the Navy Yard grounds and into Old Warrington.

The church, school and convent on the Navy Yard in 1917

St. John’s School steadily exceeded its capacity and on September 3, 1948 a new brick school house with 8 classrooms, an office, library, two utility rooms and 4 lavatories was opened. A new Convent was built next to the school building that same year for the sisters that had been living in a small bungalow.

In 1956 a large multipurpose auditorium was built behind the school.

New brick school built in 1948

In the early 1970's an additional old house behind the school was purchased by St. John Church and remodeled for the Kindergarten class.  Another building was constructed next to the Auditorium to accommodate overflow of the 1^st and 2^nd grades.  Eventually this new building housed 1^st grade and Kindergarten classes while the old building started a new Pre-Kindergarten class.  The school office was relocated from the now tutor room/Physical Education Department to it present location.   In 1993 the first grade class moved to inside the main school building and the Pre-Kindergarten moved into share the Kindergarten building.  The rearrangement of classes allowed for the old Pre-Kindergarten building to be gutted and remodeled and is now our present day Media Center.  We have over 25 computers and an automated library program to increase student’s knowledge in everyday use of technology. 

Today our School continues to serve the Warrington area and those families who work at our local Navy base.  Each year approximately 33% of our school families have someone that is serving in the Military or work as a civilian on the Navy Base.  St. John the Evangelist Catholic school continues it’s mission to provide a Christ-centered environment full of mercy and compassion.