In 1949 the parish school of Santa Isabel opened with grades one through eight with the hard work and dedication of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In 1957 the State Department of Highways purchased the site and all the parish plant building. To continue the parish school, the Archdiocesan Chancery Office approved the purchase of land at Soto Street and Whittier Blvd. In February 1958, the newly constructed school building was ready for occupancy. The blessing of the new parish plant was held in January of 1959.
The new school building has three levels. The second floor was once the residence of the sisters who staffed the school. It is now the Learning Center that houses our Transitional Kindergarten, Music Lab, Technology Center, Art Space, Reading Specialists office and Marketing office. The first floor houses seven classrooms, an office, a faculty room, and restroom facilities. Originally there was an assembly hall on the lower level; the hall has been partitioned into classrooms and the Title I Resource Space. In 1988, a new Kindergarten was dedicated in memory of Monsignor Sheehan, the founding pastor. In 2013, a new Transitional Kindergarten was added to honor the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Almost one hundred percent of the students at the School of Santa Isabel are of Hispanic descent. When the school began, most of the students were from families living in the parish. We still take great pride in offering a quality Catholic education for the children in the community, but we also welcome more than half of our population of students and faculty that come from as many as fifty-five different parishes. We believe this is so because we come from a history of dedicated service and a belief in the great hope our students offer for our future.