Our Lady of Lourdes is the Catholic parish school of central Vancouver, a PreK-8 school of about 230 students at 4701 NW Franklin Street. Its lineage runs back to Mother Joseph and the Sisters of Providence, who arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1856 and opened the region's first Catholic school two years later. The present school opened in April 1956 as Our Lady of Lourdes/St. James Catholic School with nearly 450 students, many transferring from the closing Providence Academy, staffed by eight sisters and four lay teachers. The parish was established on the site in 1958.
Within the Archdiocese of Seattle's southern deanery, Lourdes and St. Joseph Catholic School are the two parish K-8 schools serving Vancouver, and both send graduates on to Seton Catholic College Prep. Lourdes is the older of the two and the one tied most directly to the Providence tradition, with a mid-century campus in an established neighborhood rather than a newer suburban build. The tradeoff is familiar to parish-school families: a single-section, close-knit community and modest tuition, with fewer specialist offerings than a larger school can support.
The school is accredited by the Western Catholic Educational Association and organized into Little Blessings preschool, elementary (K-2), intermediate (3-5), and middle school divisions. Specialist instruction covers Spanish, music, and art literacy, with a Student Success Center for academic support, CYO athletics, service learning, and extended care. It was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2000 and 2001. A tuition-assistance fund honors Sister Mary Leona Miller, who taught first grade until her retirement in 1991.
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