History
Colonel John G. Cullmann, a German immigrant founded the town of Cullman in 1873. He promoted the town among other German immigrants. Benedictine Monks came to the city from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in the 1880s. A number of these monks had come from Bavaria, in order to serve this German-speaking Catholic community. They established St. Bernard Abbey on September 29, 1891, named after St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
In 1891, they also started St. Bernard Preparatory School on the monastery grounds. The state chartered the school 1893. While primarily a prep school, it sometimes granted bachelor's degrees.
In 1929 the Board of Trustees added a junior college. In 1949, this became a senior college.
Over the years, the school and abbey has educated candidates for ordination through its seminary programs from high school through graduate studies.
St. Bernard College was closed in 1979 after serving the baby boomer's generation need for post-secondary education. The institution reopened in 1984 as a coeducational college preparatory school, serving grades 9-12 (these grades became the Upper School in 2007). The Upper School is primarily housed in the Cullman-Swisher School Building, which was refurbished in 2009. Grades 7 and 8, the Middle School, were added in 2007. The Middle School is located in Founders' Hall.
Read more about this topic: St. Bernard Preparatory School
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