WOODSTOCK – Mary McNulty, a 1987 graduate of St. Mary Catholic School, said the school is like an extension of her family.

She and her 11 brothers and sisters, who then were Merrymans, all went to the school that is celebrating 100 years in the community.

McNulty said she met her future husband, Mike McNulty, when he came to St. Mary in sixth grade. Now they have four children who have attended, or are currently enrolled at, the school.

Some of her best friends are from St. Mary, McNulty said, and she plans on connecting with more alumni through the events the school is hosting for the centennial, including a gala Jan. 30 at Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva.

“You came from the same background, and because of that I think it helps the building blocks of friendship,” McNulty said. “And they’re just honest, good people. You’ve just known them your whole life.”

Details for registering for the gala and other centennial events can be found on the school's website and alumni Facebook page.

St. Mary’s Catholic school opened in September 1916, and classes were held in the parish house until a new school building was completed Jan. 1, 1917, according to a parish history book.

The school originally was for first through eighth grade. The high school started in 1923. A new high school building opened in January 1951 because of increased enrollment. In 1959, Marian Central Catholic High School was opened in Woodstock, and St. Mary’s High School closed.

Today, 242 students from preschool through eighth grade are enrolled at St. Mary, school secretary Kathy Stanger said. She said there are 20 teachers and teacher’s aides on staff.

[ PHOTOS: St. Mary’s Catholic School turns 100 years old ]

Although the school has gone through structural changes over the years, many of the families attending the school have stayed the same, and the strong tradition is part of what drew Principal Brenda Baldassano to St. Mary when she started in July 2015.

“A lot of Catholic schools have a really strong focus on families, that’s a given,” Baldassano said. “But it was very clear here that it was at a deeper level and how much that tradition meant to them.”

After years of working as an assistant principal in public schools, Baldassano said she was looking for an opportunity to go back to Catholic schools when she found St. Mary. She has three children attending the school now, and one son who will attend when he’s older.

Baldassano said it’s hard to explain why it is families keep coming back to St. Mary, but the school’s strong Catholic identity, academic excellence and family tradition are all part of it.

“There’s something to that, that the families who have supported the school in the past are continuing to do so over time,” Baldassano said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have made it 100 years. It’s something that’s very treasured and is very clear when you get to know people at St. Mary’s Woodstock, both at the parish and in the school.”

Three generations of Diane O’Donnell’s family have gone through St. Mary’s school doors. O’Donnell said she graduated from St. Mary in 1956, and graduated with the first class at Marian Catholic High School in 1960. This is her 16th year as religious education director for the parish.

She said what she loved about the school, and why she chose to send her seven children there, is because God always is in the center of the education, and that is something that has not changed throughout the school’s 100 years.

“To me, a Catholic education is the full education,” O’Donnell said. “You’re not leaving the most important part out, which is God.”

Although every Tuesday students attend Mass officiated by Father Burt Absalon, religion and academics are woven together in everyday subjects and conversations at St. Mary, Mary Keisling said.

Keisling, O’Donnell’s daughter, is a 1987 graduate and a fourth-grade teacher at St. Mary who has five children who have graduated from or are attending the school.

She said as a parent and a teacher, it’s nice to know there is a shared sense of value at home and at school.

“It has to do with the way that I treat the kids in the classroom, recognizing the God-given dignity that they have, but also trying to help them see that in each other,” Keisling said.

Despite traveling “all over the place” with her husband who’s in the Navy, Keisling said she stays in touch with her St. Mary friends, and is excited for the gala to see more alumni and hopefully see more photos from when she was in grade school.

She said she never expected to end up back in Woodstock, but once she moved back she knew she’d send her children to St. Mary.

“I love it here,” Keisling said. “To me, St. Mary’s is my home, and I wouldn’t want to teach anywhere else or go to church anywhere else. As we kind of traveled all over the place, this has always been my home that’s calling me back.”