St. Benedict School - Decorah, IA

08/27/2026

Help us welcome Fr. Seda and Fr. Anane to our schools! ❤💙

As we begin a new school year, we do so as part of the newly-formed Decorah Area Pastorate, which brings together Notre Dame parish in Cresco and St. Benedict parish in Decorah. Over the summer, the Pastorate welcomed two new priests into our community - Fr. Jon Seda, our new Pastor, and Fr. Francis Anane, our new Parochial Vicar. Both will serve the two Catholic schools within the Pastorate - Notre Dame Catholic School and St. Benedict School.

You'll see both Fr. Seda and Fr. Anane celebrating school Masses throughout the year and around our schools as they get to know our students and families. Fr. Seda will also serve as the Pastoral Coordinator for both schools, partnering with our respective school boards and leaders to support the faith formation of our students.

Please join us in welcoming Fr. Seda and Fr. Anane to our schools! Keep them in your prayers as they begin their ministry with us and continue to get acquainted with our parishes and schools.

08/26/2026

🚨 REMINDER! 🚨

This school year, Wednesdays are normal school days - no Wednesday late starts!

📣 REMINDER! 📣

There's a new school start time this year! Preschool - 8th grade students need to be in classrooms no later than 8:05 AM.

This change adds an additional 10 minutes to each instructional day (compared to last school year). When added up, this extra time provides flexibility at the end of the year when we have to assess the need for make-up days due to weather closures and other events.

Thank you to our families for your continued support!

08/25/2026

Today is the LAST DAY to place your St. Ben's Spirit Wear orders for the Fall ordering window! All shirts on our spirit wear site can be worn by all students, every day, as part of our school dress code!

Get your orders in before Midnight tonight! ⏳

Order online:
bit.ly/spiritwearfall26

08/25/2026

We had an excellent start to our new school year today! It was great having everyone back in the building. We started our day with an all school assembly and prayer. We are off to a super start! ❤💙

Share in our excitement of the first day by sharing first day pictures of your St. Ben's student(s) in the comments below - in the interest of student safety, please avoid pictures that share any back to school student favorites/stats 🙏👇

08/22/2026

It all began with a simple doodle at the start of last school year, and turned into something students looked forward to all year long!

Our Physical Education and Health teacher, Mr. Kullen ("Coach K"), had a fun new gnome sketch waiting for students on the whiteboard when they arrived at P.E. - from jumping into a pile of fall leaves to celebrating Catholic Schools Week, there was a gnome for every occasion! At the end of the year, students got to join in and draw their best gnome as they headed off into summer.

So... will the gnomes return this school year? We sure hope so 😉!

08/21/2026

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝘀. 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹! ❤💙

Hello! My name is Brooke Berns, and I am very excited to be joining the St. Benedict's community! I am originally from Decorah and grew up as a parishioner of St. Benedict's. In 2020, I graduated from Decorah High School and started my journey at the University of Northern Iowa. I graduated from UNI with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, a minor in Literacy Education, and an endorsement in Special Education. I have been teaching as a Preschool and Inclusive Special Education teacher for the past two years at Hudson Community Schools. I was blessed to work with many amazing educators during these experiences.

What excites me most about joining St. Benedict's Catholic School is being able to openly express and share the love of our Lord with my students, colleagues, and community! Each child deserves to be seen, known, and loved right where they are. I am honored to teach and learn alongside my students, who are truly living with a joyful, childlike spirit every day.

Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family - Brent and Anne (my parents), and my brothers, Drew, Riley, and Reid. I also enjoy hiking and biking, anything outdoors, caring for my plants, baking, and spending time with the Lord. I look forward to starting this new journey at St. Benedict's!

08/20/2026

The supplies are purchased, first day outfits picked out, and the classrooms are ready! Join us in praying over our students and staff as we begin a new school year - a special back-to-school blessing will be offered this weekend at each Mass in both Cresco and Decorah.

We invite all school families to join us for Mass this (and every) weekend! ❤

𝗖𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼-𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀:
SATURDAY
▪️4:00 PM - Notre Dame, Cresco
▪️5:00 PM - St. Benedict, Decorah

SUNDAY
▪️9:00 AM - Notre Dame, Cresco
▪️10:00 AM - St. Benedict, Decorah

08/20/2026

We can't wait to welcome everyone back to St. Ben's for tomorrow's Back to School Night! Come drop off your supplies and say hello to your student's teachers, and be sure to stop by the office to grab your carline pick-up tag.

Plan to join us for our new playground dedication at 6:00, followed by a free-will donation family grill-out - burgers and beef hot dogs, grilled up by the Winneshiek County Cattlemen's Association. Top off the evening with a scoop of Sugar Bowl ice cream, sponsored by St. Ben's PSA!

Bring your lawn chairs or blankets, bring your appetite, and join us for an evening as a school family before the school year starts!

08/19/2026

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗞𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹! ❤💙

Hello! My name is Kelsey Murphy (Bratland), and I am so excited to be a part of this amazing community! I graduated from Luther College in May 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating, I worked as an academic interventionist at Spring Grove Public Schools, which is located in my hometown and where my husband and I currently reside.

I am so grateful to be here, and the support I have already been shown has been incredible. I am so excited to meet everyone who makes St. Benedict’s such a special place!

Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I am fortunate enough to have all of my family in Spring Grove, so we spend lots of time together! My parents still live on the dairy farm where we grew up. I have two older sisters and am a proud auntie to three wonderful kids. A fun fact about my family is that my mom, both of my sisters, my brother-in-law, and my husband are ALL teachers!

Thank you so much for welcoming me into this community! I cannot wait to meet everyone and have a great school year!

08/17/2026

And we are back! We were in full swing today preparing for the new school year. Thanks to PSA for providing us with lunch!