The school at Mission San Xavier del Bac is celebrating its 150th year of operation this school year. San Xavier Mission School, located on the west side of the mission, opened in 1864 and serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

The school's students are primarily from the Tohono O'odham Nation, but some are from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and other areas surrounding the mission. The nuns who operate the school are Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity from Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Karen Faber, a teacher at the school, says in an email that the school is "the oldest business in the southern corridor of Arizona." She adds that the school's sesquicentennial "is something to celebrate and should be shared with the rest of the nation."

The mission itself was founded by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1692. It's a popular tourist attraction near Tucson.