Students at St. James School in Falls Church have an exciting year ahead of them. The school is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the theme, "Excellence in Catholic Education and Tradition: 1906-2006."

Several events will commemorate the milestone, beginning with an opening Mass celebrated by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. followed by an open house and reception at the school. The following day, a centennial picnic, hosted by the Knights of Columbus, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m.

Other events include a Centennial Bazaar at the end of October and a Centennial Gala in April. Alumni are being alerted to the different events.

The school was started by the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in 1906. After seventeen years running the school, these sisters left "for community reasons," according to Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister St. Michel Mullany, archivist for the I.H.M. community. She said the order probably didn’t have enough sisters to staff the school.

When the sisters left, the pastor petitioned the I.H.M. sisters to come teach. At that time, the growing order was mainly diocesan, based in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In 1922, they established the first I.H.M. mission in Lima, Peru. The second community they established was in Falls Church in 1923.

The I.H.M. Sisters began their work at St. James with seven nuns, 92 students in elementary grades and eight high school students. The high school students attended Villa Maria Academy in the building that is now the convent. The all-girls boarding high school was staffed by the I.H.M. nuns but separate from St. James School. By 1952 St. James School had grown so large that the academy was forced to move to Lynchburg, where it remained until 1983.

The school received Blue Ribbon status from the U.S. Department of Education during the 1998-99 school year. The Joseph B. Knecht Gymnasium was dedicated on Jan. 24, 1999. Msgr. Roy Cosby, pastor at the time, named the gym in honor of a parishioner who was killed in a construction accident in 1997.

After 100 years, St. James School has touched many lives and been a constant presence in the community.

Sister Janet Regina Dougherty, I.H.M., served as principal of the school from 1990-99.

"The people support the school 150 percent," she said. "The school has blossomed and grown." The inside of the school was remodeled in the ’90s to include state-of-the-art library, music and art rooms.

Sister Dougherty now teaches at another St. James School, this one in Savannah, Ga.

Beth Stucker retired from St. James last year after 28 years of service as a secretary. Her three children attended the school from kindergarten through eighth-grade.

As a parent, Stucker was happy with the education her children received. Students not only benefit from a curriculum that sees all subjects through the lens of religion, but students also have the constant witness of the nuns, said Stucker, adding that many Catholic schools no longer have teachers who are also religious.

Parents make a choice to send their children to this school, and the teachers tend to stay for many years, she said.

"They felt it was a calling," she said. "Many feel a connection (to the school) even after they leave. That connection helps the school continue."