Throughout the centuries, thousands of religious and lay people committed themselves to the Christian education, and their wisdom and experience, sometimes even their mistakes, deserve to be known. They are essential reference points for those who want to devote themselves to the Christian education of the future generations.
The Church has always been concerned with the little ones or abandoned ones, frequently “gratis et amore Dei”. The clear evidence of that is the huge number of congregations and associations that founded and conducted schools and institutions everywhere. Here is a list of some congregations explicitly born to serve young people:
Catholic teaching orders for men:
1617 Piarists (Joseph Calasanz)
1680 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools / Lasallian Brothers (Jean-Baptiste de La Salle)
1802 Presentation Brothers (Edmund Ignatius Rice)
1817 Marist Brothers of the School (Marcellin Champagnat)
1821 Sacred Heart Brothers (André Coindre)
1859 Salesians of Don Bosco (Giovanni Bosco)
Catholic teaching orders for women:
1685 Religious Teachers Venerini (Rose Venerini)
1692 Filippini Sisters (Marcantonio Barbarigo / Lucy Filippini)
1775 Presentation Sisters (Nano Nagle)
1843 Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (Marie Rose Durocher)
1860 Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia / Nashville Dominicans
1872 Salesian Sisters (Giovanni Bosco / Maria Domenica Mazzarello)
1874 School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee (Emma Franziska Höll)
1916 Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary (Ignatius Lissner / Barbara Williams)
1943 Dominicaines du Saint Esprit (Victor-Alain Berto)
1976 School Sisters of Christ the King (Glennon Patrick Flavin)
If you want to know other teaching communities, please visit the Italian list with more than 300 teaching orders.