About Us

Established in 1844, St. Peter’s School is the oldest Catholic school in New York State. Serving the Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park community for over 170 years, we provide a nurturing learning environment where students achieve their full potential. The school offers a rigorous academic program, utilizing Blended Learning and Centers-Based instruction, and is rooted in the teachings and values of the Catholic faith. At St. Peter’s School, we develop well-rounded young adults well prepared to face the academic challenges of high school and beyond.

Our History

Over 170 years ago, Father Michael Riordan, Pastor of St. Peter’s Church, saw a need for Catholic education in the Poughkeepsie area. St. Peter’s School was established in the basement of the Church, then located on Mill Street in Poughkeepsie.

The school remained in that basement for the next 16 years, and it flourished. By 1860, there was a great need to expand. It was around that time that the Sisters of Charity of Mount St. Vincent arrived to take charge of the girl’s school. In 1869, a boy’s school was established across the street.

Throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, St. Peter’s School continued to grow with the arrival of many immigrants to the area. The Marist Brothers became involved with the school and helped with the teaching. In 1965, the school was relocated to its present location off of Violet Avenue, where it remains to this day.

St. Peter’s School, now part of the Dutchess Catholic School Region of the Archdiocese of New York, remains dedicated to educating the “whole” child – spiritually, physically and academically.

Philosophy

We are a School

Therefore, our responsibility is to impart to each student a full academic program according to the mandates of the State of New York Department of Education and the School Board of the Archdiocese of New York. We share, with our parents, the responsibility of equipping the children to the best of our ability, thus enabling them to enter schools of higher learning and ultimately preparing them to become self-sufficient citizens of the United States and of the world.

WE ARE A ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL

We are bound by the strictest accountability to inculcate into the minds and hearts of our children the pure Doctrine of the Church, as well as a loving submission to the word of God as presented to us by the Holy Father, a deep awareness of the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, the importance of the Sacraments, a devotion to Our Lady, and, above all, an understanding of the greatest commandments of love of God and love of neighbor. In the same loving atmosphere, we should treat the children with dignity and respect, and through our example, they will learn how to treat themselves and others with that same dignity and respect.

Contact Us

School Information

Mrs. Susan Traudt, Principal
12 Father Cody Drive
Poughkeepsie, New York 12601

Phone: (845) 471-6600 x200
Fax: (845) 454-1674
Email: [email protected]