Queen of Angels to celebrate its centennial

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 30, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The only Catholic school on the Olympic Peninsula is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Queen of Angels School, at 1007 S. Oak St. in Port Angeles, first opened for the 1926-27 school year. To celebrate the school’s centennial, multiple events are planned.

The first will be an alumni golf tournament at 11 a.m. June 19 at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course, 1965 Woodcock Road in Sequim.

Funds raised will go toward supporting students and families in need of financial assistance, according to a flyer for the event.

The school also will host a reunion weekend from June 26-28. There will be an evening social hour at 5:30 p.m. June 26 at Field Arts & Events Hall, 201 W. Front St. in Port Angeles, for alumni members 21 and older.

Queen of Angels will then host an open house and dinner starting at 1 p.m. June 27 at the school. Additional details for the dinner yet been announced.

Then, starting at 8:30 a.m. June 28, alumni members are invited to mass followed by a coffee hour with a potluck picnic starting at 11:30 a.m. The picnic will feature a cake walk.

Current students, alumni and friends of Queen of Angels School are invited to walk together in the Port Angeles Fourth of July Parade at 6 p.m. that day.

For more information or to register for events, email alumni@qofaschool.org.

Queen of Angels Parish, along with the Sisters of St. Ann of Victoria, B.C., opened Queen of Angels School in 1926, according to a history provided by the school.

“Father Demetrius Juneman, OSB, pastor of the parish at that time, decided it was time to build a parochial school because of the large number of Catholic families in the area,” the history states. “When the school was opened, Bishop O’Dea, from Seattle, came to bless and dedicate the new school and convent buildings.”

The school has lasted for so long because it offers the only Catholic education on the North Olympic Peninsula, preschool and GRACE teacher Haley Djenaba said.

“We have a lot of families who have strong generational ties to the school,” Djenaba said. “My kids are the third generation in our family that have attended. Both my parents attended. There are five or six staff members who are all alumni with strong family ties also. I think that family connection to a school is something special that people want to keep coming back for.”

The school offers education for children beginning at age 3 in preschool and goes up through eighth grade.

When Queen of Angels first opened, it was for first through eighth grade.

“The school was originally a one-story building with a basement,” the school’s history states. “Newspaper articles stress the fact that the school was built of ‘fireproof construction with a stucco finish and decorative features.’ The school began with four ‘well-lighted’ classrooms capable of seating 40 pupils each. There were two grades in each classroom at that time.”

The first school year had 135 pupils, but enrollment increased to 140 that year.

“There have been hard times over the years,” Djenaba said. “In years past, it’s been under 100 students.”

The school added kindergarten in 1974 and a preschool program in 1981.

“In the late 1990s, the convent was remodeled to include classrooms, a computer lab, a science lab, a restroom, staff lounge and work rooms,” the history states. “The convent also housed a library for student use during the school day. At the same time as that remodel, a new building was built between the school and the convent, bridging the two buildings together. This connecting building serves as the main office for the school.”

Also in the 1990s, the school began to accept students from all over the North Olympic Peninsula. Some students lived as far away as Discovery Bay and Port Townsend.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a new challenge, but it also brought an unexpected influx of students, Djenaba said.

“We were reopening when the public schools were still staggered or half-time,” she said. “We were open full-time, and a lot of people chose to attend in person. We’ve retained quite a few of those students.”

Queen of Angels School provides an alternative education for families who want similar values taught at home to be used in the classroom, Djenaba said. It also has smaller class sizes compared to some of the public schools, she said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.