The school was organized during the year 1859 and until 1879 was conducted by lay teachers. After that, it was run by sisters from several religious orders. The first nuns to teach at St. Joseph's were the Sisters of St. Francis Mary Immaculate, from Joliet, Illinois, who taught from Sept. 1879 until June 1920. On Aug. 21, 1920, the Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in Galion to take charge of St. Joseph' School and another Catholic School in Galion called St. Patrick's. Enrollment was 68 pupils in St. Joe's and 44 in St. Pat's. The Notre Dame sisters served until May, 1979, after 59 years.

In May 1950 the St. Joseph's building was dismantled. The school children were combined with those of St. Patrick's School, which was located on Payne Ave, during the construction of the present St. Joe's School. The front section of the building was opened in September of 1951. In 1955 the center section of the school was constructed and the third section of the school was completed in 1967. Due to a shortage of vocations the Sisters of Notre Dame had to leave in 1979 and the Sylvania Franciscan Sisters administered the school. The only sister left in the school is Sister Samuel Lubeck.arents should call the school at 419-468-5436 to make arrangements for visiting the school or for picking up enrollment forms.