History

Immaculate Conception Parish was founded in 1905 because of the general spread of population to the Morningside area. The parish was named by Andrew M. Jackson, who had asked for a parish to be built in the area. Jackson named it Immaculate Conception after a church he had once attended in Alabama. Father Louis Kerby was the first pastor. He rented a nearby house for a rectory and started a school in the church basement. The Sisters of Charity from Cathedral parish traveled by streetcar every morning and then again in the evening to teach approximately 75 students. The sisters were replaced by the Servants of Mary Motherhouse in Cherokee, Iowa, marking the first time that teaching sisters were supplied from a Motherhouse located in northwest Iowa.

Kindergarten through eighth grades attended the Immaculate Conception -Nativity School until the fall of 1994. The Nativity Educational Center opened its doors in the fall of 1994. The Mater Dei-Nativity Center works with middle school grades of 6th- 8th. It houses a computer lab, art/multipurpose room, music/band room, library and classroom space for up to 270 students. During this time frame the new system name of "Mater Dei School", which is Latin for "Mother of God", was adopted by Bishop Soens. The Immaculate Conception School recently constructed a new Kindergarten through fifth grade Educational facility. The Mater Dei-Immaculate Conception Center was completed in January 2001. This new building features 2 classrooms per grade, library center, computer center, music/band room, art/multipurpose room, new gym and kitchen. This state of the art building has classroom space for 360 students.