Monsignor James Caulfield (the first pastor of De Chantal Parish) had been taught by the Sisters of Charity in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. When, in the course of time, St. Jane de Chantal Parish was founded and Sisters were needed to establish a school, Monsignor requested the presence of the Seton Hill Sisters here in Bethesda.
The Sisters arrived in 1953 and started the school with classrooms in the "little white house" that was in the center of the courtyard. Not only did the sisters teach there, but they lived on the top floor of the house. So, from the beginning and to the present time, the Sisters of Charity have served the Church in Bethesda.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton established her first school in Baltimore, Maryland in 1808; in 1809 she established a religious community in Emmitsburg, Maryland. They were known as the "Sisters of Charity." Her community expanded and thus in 1870, the Sisters of Charity of Greensburg, Pennsylvania was established. The Sisters have lived by one of her most famous sayings..."to teach as Jesus did."