Before this milestone, St. Joseph — which first opened its doors in 1993 with just 13 students — operated as an independent private school governed by a board of parents, without a formal connection to the diocese. Kiser had recently been hired as head of school when the long-sought relationship with the diocese finally became a reality. Bishop Robert J. Baker (now emeritus) visited the campus to sign the documents, marking St. Joseph as the first independent Catholic school in South Carolina to be recognized and approved (see photo top right).

The recognition did more than simply change the name to St. Joseph’s Catholic School; it transformed the school’s very identity. It officially became a truly Catholic school, granting priests the ability to visit the campus to say Mass, hear confessions and offer counsel and guidance to the founders.

Kiser reflected on the lengthy journey, saying the “recognition was a long time coming” since they’d wanted the Church’s blessing from the beginning.

St. Joseph has undergone significant changes since its beginnings in a converted house on Augusta Road. After a brief move to a building on Washington Street, it relocated in 1997 to its current 36-acre campus. In 2003, the school added a middle school. Enrollment has swelled from its original 13 students to 605 today.

Despite its growth and many physical moves, Kiser asserts that the school’s core has remained constant.

“Our mission has always been to form the minds, hearts and souls of our students in the likeness of Christ,” he said. “That is what we want to do every day. We’ve grown a lot over the years, but what we want students to experience has not changed.”

As the school celebrated its silver anniversary of diocesan recognition, one of the fruits of the past 25 years is the articulation of “The Saint Joseph’s Way.” This is the core spirit, or charism, that guides all faculty, staff and coaches each day. Kiser explained that the charism directs their collaborative efforts to live out the school’s mission.

St. Joseph intentionally invites students of all faiths “so that we may share the Catholic faith with them. Many families feel comfortable here,” Kiser said. “Fostering and building relationships is essential to what we do and how we work with students. We pay attention to who they are. Every student comes to us as a unique child of God. We want them to discover that God loves them.”

To help make a private education accessible, St. Joseph’s offers personalized family tuition, through an endowment, to assist qualified students. Kiser said the focus remains squarely on students’ spiritual needs.

“Teens are longing for God. They want a relationship with God. Leadership works to continuously improve the delivery and execution of the mission and how to reach our teens. They are our future,” he said.