One of the first things Fr. D.B. O'Connor did after his arrival was to see that the school was opened. The upper floor of the church was intended for classrooms, and, seeing a need for Catholic education for his parishioners, he wrote to the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine’s in Kentucky, asking them to staff the school. They consented. In August of 1916, four Dominican Sisters arrived, and St. Patrick’s School opened its doors. At the very first, the nuns were housed at headquarters in Lincoln, and they as well as Fr. O’Connor suffered the inconvenience of living a distance from the parish, but Fr. O’Connor soon arranged living quarters for them in some of the classrooms. Three years later, he had a convent for them, situated to the west of the church. In 1922, he had his own residence in the rectory constructed to the east.