Totino-Grace High School

Totino-Grace High School is a private Catholic high school in Fridley, Minnesota. It is an archdiocesan co-educational Catholic high school in the Lasallian tradition. History Founding In the late 1950s, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota sought to expand the number of Catholic high schools in the Twin Cities area. At the same time, Monsignor Joseph Lapinski, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbia Heights, purchased some land in nearby Fridley in the hope that the archdiocese would build one of these new high schools there. Approval for a new high school in Fridley was soon given, and in 1965, the Christian Brothers accepted responsibility for administration of the school. The School Sisters of Notre Dame joined the Brothers in this task, and opened Archbishop Grace High School in September 1966, with 175 freshmen. The first graduating class was the Class of 1970. Early years From its very beginning, the Brothers and Sisters worked alongside laymen and laywomen as their counterparts in the school's operation. To this day, the staff have provided the tradition that is one of the school's values. The school grew throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1970, the Christian Brothers informed the Archdiocese that they could no longer be personally responsible for the financial operation of the school, and a lay Corporate Board was begun to formulate policy for the school.