Catholic education at St. Anthony of Padua began in 1951, when sixty children in kindergarten through fourth grade were taught in rooms on the first floor of a converted farmhouse. The Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity served the parish and the school, and classes later moved into two tin buildings purchased from the Donaldson Air Force Base in Greenville.

St. Anthony's grew up as a haven: from its beginnings it was a place for families who faced discrimination because of their race and were a distinct minority in the largely Protestant community. Out of that history came a parish and school of remarkable joy — a community whose gospel song, warm embrace, and stubborn hope still mark the school today.