St. Paul began in the fall of 1956 during a decade in which Cardinal James Francis McIntyre opened an astonishing 24 Catholic high schools. It was known then as Santa Fe Catholic High School, located in two classrooms at St. Marianne School in Pico Rivera, with 100 freshmen from the surrounding Whittier area parishes. The staff consisted of: School Sister of Notre Dame Michael Marie, Franciscan Brother Martin, and Dominican Sister Siena. It is said that a Disney came to the school and told a student to build his dreams up. In 1989 George Lopez also came to the school to give a speech to a class. In 1957, the school name was changed to St. Paul to avoid confusion with the recently opened local public high school named Santa Fe. In January 1958, St. Paul High School moved to its present location on Greenleaf Avenue with a student body of 325 freshmen and sophomores. The first class graduated in May 1960. Since its beginning, St. Paul has been staffed by members of the Order of St. Francis, clergy from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and, at various times, members of eight different religious congregations. For the past 50 years, there have always been at least one Franciscan Brother on the faculty. The majority of the teaching faculty is made up of lay men and women. Today St. Paul High School has an enrollment of nearly 500 students.
Football
The longtime head football coach of the St. Paul Swordsmen was Marijon Ancich. In 1959, after college, Ancich started as an assistant coach. After being named head coach two years later, he went on to coach from 1961 to 1981 and again from 1993 to 2005, before returning for a third stint in 2009. He is the second winningest high school football coach in California history with a record of 344-123-4, as of the 2008 high school football season. In his long career, Ancich's teams won three CIF titles, two California State titles and 19 league championships. Elijah Asante was hired in 2012 and was fired six games into the season with a record of 1-5. Athletic Director Casey Morales served as interim head coach to finish the season. Rick Zepeda was hired on December 20, 2012.
Former Principal Lori Barr
On 29 June 2012, former St. Paul Principal Lori Barr was sentenced to 180 days in Los Angeles County jail for charging more than $64,000 on her school-issued American Express charge card. Barr served as principal from July 2008 to May 2010. Barr was accused of using the school's card for her own personal expenses including hotel stays, meals, personal travel and salon visits. Barr pleaded no contest to the charges and has since repaid the debt.
