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Education

FSPA originally came to La Crosse, Wis., to help educate Catholic children in the area and to care for orphans.

While teaching in parochial schools, the sisters felt the need to upgrade their teaching skills through formal teacher education. To this end, they established St. Rose Normal School in 1890. In 1940 it became Viterbo College, which today thrives as a Catholic, Franciscan, liberal arts university with strong fine arts and professional arts programs.

Earlier sisters also addressed the educational needs of nurses while staffing the first hospital in La Crosse. St. Francis School of Nursing was created in 1901 and continued until the 1970s when it became part of Viterbo College, now Viterbo University.

Through the years, FSPA have staffed scores of schools around the nation and have provided religious education programs for children and adults, tutoring for new immigrants, and training in many other areas.

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