Albany, Minnesota with a population of approximately 1,600 people is an energetic community located in central Stearns County. Albany was founded in 1863, five years after Minnesota was admitted to the Union and when the Civil War was already in progress.

The community of Albany, like much of central Minnesota, was settled predominately by German Catholics. These settlers brought with them German ideas of transferring state schools to their new settlements. Parochial schools were not part of their educational heritage.

On November 26, 1883, Father Gregory, O.S.B., became “Seven Dolors” first resident priest. Sensing the “spiritual and moral laxity” of the children, he worked hard with much opposition to establish a parochial school. Even after preaching about a parent’s obligation to provide a Catholic education the pastor’s candidate for the school board was rejected. The following Sunday Father Gregory announced he was leaving and the bishop closed the church.

In 1885 Father Gregory was recalled and through a compromise two Benedictine Sisters came to teach. Holy Family School opened in the fall of 1886, closed in 1888 and opened again in 1890. There have been Benedictine sisters in the school since 1890. Beginning with the 1995-1996 school year, there were no teaching sisters. However, the presence of the Benedictine sisters continued through a sister principal. In the 1997-98 school year, a Benedictine Sister again joined the faculty. Presently their are no Benedictine Sisters on staff.

The present building was constructed in 1910. An auditorium was added in 1915. An addition was added in 1931 and the auditorium on second floor was remodeled into classrooms in 1984. Holy Family included grades 1-8 until 1967 when the 7th and 8th grades were dropped. With the statistics available, it seems the highest enrollment occurred during the 1963-64 school year with 331 students enrolled in grades 1-8. Kindergarten was added for the first time during the 1990-91 school year. The enrollment in 2004-2005 is 137 students in grades K-6.

When the parochial schools at St. Martin and Avon closed, Holy Family School began serving children from the neighboring parishes.

The first organizational meeting of the Holy Family School Board met on July 8, 1964. Members were elected by parish vote. Such problems as solving school maintenance expenses, selection of lay teachers, and assistance in getting federal funding for equipment were areas of study for this board. Today the board is a total parish education board and is called Seven Dolors Board of Education.

Despite enrollment declines and rising costs, Holy Family School remains a strong school offering quality Catholic education to students of Seven Dolors and surrounding parishes.

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