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St. Mary Catholic Schools Facilities & Campuses
St. Mary Catholic Schools serve over 900 students in early childhood through Grade 12. The SMCS schools are located throughout Neenah and Menasha, Wisconsin.
- St. Mary Catholic High School (1050 Zephyr Dr., Neenah, Wisconsin)
- St. Mary Catholic Middle School (1000 Zephyr Dr., Neenah, Wisconsin)
- St. Gabriel Elementary School (900 Geiger St., Neenah, Wisconsin)
- St. Margaret Mary Elementary School (610 Division St., Neenah, Wisconsin)
- St. Mary Elementary School (510 Second St., Menasha, Wisconsin)
Each elementary school is located on the grounds of one of our SMCS parishes. The SMCS High School and Middle School are located on the same campus and share outdoor recreational facilities, as well as a two-acre nature area. All buildings are securely locked and have wireless technology. Each school has a library & media center, gymnasium, band & music room and cafeteria.
Jane Bergstrom Fine Arts Education Center (FAEC)
Built in 2012, the state-of-the-art Jane Bergstrom Fine Arts Education Center is for student arts opportunities for the entire SMCS community. The venue is used by students and staff from the five SMCS schools, as well as alumni and community members for concerts, performances and events. The theater is equipped with ample, ADA-compliant handicap seating, an assisted hearing loop and assisted listening devices.
It is modeled after the same advanced, professional technology used by the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center with the intent of exposing our students to opportunities in all aspects of the fine arts.
The 22,000 square-foot facility includes seating for 495 guests and includes state-of-the-art audiovisual, lighting and production equipment, a staging fly system and Yamaha grand piano. The facility also includes a set-building studio and costume shop, as well as a comfortable green room.
In addition, the lobby area is perfect for events such as fundraisers, visual arts displays and the senior prom. An authentic black box theater that seats 96 patrons is used for one-set plays, forensic activities, seminars, small combo instrumental performances and more.
Fine Arts Education Center Resources and Additional Images
- Seating Chart
- Hearing Loop Information
- Lighting & Production Equipment
- Staging Fly System
- Production Set-Building Studio
- Green Room
Fitness & Wellness Center
The Fitness and Wellness Center hours can be found on the SMCS google calendar.
Rules & Policies
- No food or open container beverages. Water is preferred.
- Students must have staff or coach supervision and are never allowed workout alone in FC.
- Put weights and equipment away in the proper location when finished.
- Wipe down equipment after use.
- Report any broken equipment immediately.
- Appropriate attire is required including shoes and shirts. Clothing must be modest in style and not muddy from practice. Hats are not allowed.
- If students are in the FC, they are there to workout. The fitness center is not a hangout.
- Students must be involved in FC programming that is safe and designed by PE teacher, coach, or credible resource.
- See Mr. Post or FC staff with questions or concerns. [email protected]
High School Technology Classrooms
- Distance Learning: provides access to AP, CAPP, specialized and accelerated classes from schools across the state; to educational networks via direct connections to real-world professionals in hundreds of fields; and to new opportunities to build vital skills through live, interactive seminars, lab simulations and virtual field trips.
- Forensic & Presentation Lab: equipped with tools to help students enhance their interpersonal communication skills and to craft quality presentations.
- Business, Marketing & Graphic Design Lab (BMG): provides an environment for students to create high-quality digital and print media. This lab enables students to become proficient with tools that are commonly used in a wide range of creative industries to produce real-world presentations and graphic designs.
- Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (I-STEM): provides students with the high-tech resources needed to apply math and science knowledge using engineering technologies including computer-aided design (CAD) software.
STEM Club Building
The SMCS STEM Club Building, located on the campus on Zephyr Drive, is the home to our renowned VEX Robotics program, as well as an aeronautics club and groups that focus on electricity/electronics and programming.
Our robotics teams have separate and ample areas for design/planning, construction and practice. There is also designated space for an electronics station and construction of quad copters.
Zephyrs Fields & Riviere Tennis Center
SMCS is fortunate to have regulation competition fields for many high school sports right on the combined campus of the middle and high school. A turf soccer and football field, 8-lane regulation track and field, beautiful tennis courts, and a turf baseball diamond and turf softball field provide a home-field advantage to our Zephyrs teams.
In the summer of 2020, SMCS completed our $2.5 Million NCAA regulation Zephyrs Field project with an MTS Pro synthetic turf field for soccer and football and an 8-lane 400-meter Zephyrs Blue synthetic polyurethane championship running track. Also included as part of the new sports complex are collegiate level designed pole vault, long jump, discus, shot put and high jump areas all visible from the grandstand. It also is enhanced with a new LED track timing and scoreboard system. All sporting events will be supported with a 360-degree high-performance sound system and will include a wi-fi network for live streaming of contests.
The actual field was inspired by Marquette University’s new Valley Fields varsity sports park. The complex’s new “Home of the Zephyrs” entrance arch incorporates design elements of both the historic Notre Dame and Marquette University gateways.
The Riviere Tennis Center, which has newly refurbished landscaping, eight rejuvenated regulation-size courts, and stadium-style seating for spectators, allows SMCHS to host invitationals, conference tournaments and WIAA events.
The McClone Gymnasium and the double gym at St. Mary Catholic Middle School provide a terrific, multi-court venue for hosting indoor sports competitions and practices.
Jane’s Woods
Jane’s Woods is a beautiful two-acre wooded area on the main Zephyrs Campus. The woods is named in loving memory of the mother of two important SMCS benefactors, brothers John & Dick Bergstrom. The small preserve was recognized by a local professional arborist to be “the best-preserved woodland in the Fox Valley.”
Jane’s Woods was established in 1994 when St. Mary Catholic High School (then known as St. Mary Central) was built on Zephyr Drive. When the new middle school was constructed in 2015, the building was positioned at the edge of the woods and designed to take advantage of the verdant view; the science and art labs are located next to the woods for easy access.
Many volunteers have worked over the years to transform the wildly overgrown plot into a beautiful area that is enjoyed by many. Groups including science classes, sports teams, scout troops and school families still visit the woods regularly to combat invasive species such as buckthorn, renew native flora and perform trail maintenance. Several small grants from area organizations including SCA, Wild Ones, Cellcom, and Bergstrom Automotive, have been secured to ensure that Jane’s Woods is in prime condition to be used as an outdoor classroom, a peaceful refuge, a cross-country ski and running path and home to many plants, small animals and insects.
In addition to beautifying the campus and preserving natural habitat, education is a primary component of the Jane’s Woods project. Service learning experiences for the students in science and religion classes, as well as inspiration for art and literature classes enrich the lives of students from our elementary, middle, and high schools. Those who participate learn the value of hard work, aesthetics and stewardship, as well life skills such as responsibility and property maintenance.
Notable additions to Jane’s Woods include the pastoral Stations of the Cross path that can be prayerfully traversed, and prominent placement of a statue of St. Francis and a large wooden cross at the entrance. The cross was hand-hewn by SMC alumnus Terry Spalding in memory of his father, John Spalding. The nearly 12-foot tall cross was made from the beams of a lodge frequently used by the high school for retreats and faculty gatherings in the 1960s-80s. Special benches donated in memory of Zephyrs community members are located throughout the woods as places to reflect and enjoy the peaceful setting.
Middle School
The design of the school unites the traditions of the Catholic faith with a state-of-the-art middle school educational environment. To emphasize Catholic traditions, the layout of the building is organized around three metaphors consistently seen in traditional Catholic architecture: Body, City and Temple, which are represented in the program areas. Body is represented by the gymnasium; City is exemplified through the Commons and social interaction area; and Temple is signified by the academic wing of the building. The “light corridor” or central spine of the building unites these areas.
To create a learning environment that promotes academic excellence, the middle school layout incorporates many aspects of a contemporary learning. The classroom arrangement includes flexible grade-level communities, or “pods,” each containing 3-4 large core classrooms; adjacent collaborative, independent learning areas; group study/project rooms and student lockers. The collaborative learning spaces include flexible furniture and technology to accommodate multiple instructional needs with visual transparency between classrooms.
Rather than having separate classrooms with desks in rows or blocks, each room in the area is separated by glass walls, enabling teachers to oversee multiple groups of students engaged in different activities. Furnishings are mobile and are shaped for easy reconfiguration depending upon the task at hand. The science lab and art classroom are intentionally located near Jane’s Woods, a beautiful outdoor learning environment.
The Commons seats 150 students for lunch and can be used as a gathering space for large school events or after-hours activities. The gymnasium will be used for physical education classes and as a competition court with bleacher seating for 300. The gym can be divided into two separate courts for practices and tournaments. The chapel provides a worship and silent prayer area, with seating for 75 students.
The library/media center is an interactive space with flexible furnishings to meet various needs from research to group interaction. It includes areas for books and reading, as well as a media area and green screen where students can create reports and learn to use audio-visual equipment.
Every area of the school is flooded with natural light, providing a pleasantly lit backdrop for schoolwork.
Nooks and comfortable spaces for reading or studying individually or in a group are located throughout the building.
The overall design accommodates current and probable future technology trends. The building has complete wireless capability and SMART Boards throughout. Students are assigned an iPad for use at school and at home.