Cotter High School is the sole Roman Catholic High School in Winona, Minnesota, and is one of the first in the state. Today, Cotter Schools consists of the Cotter High School and Cotter Junior High School. The school opened its doors on September 5, 1911 as the "Cotter School for Boys". Cotter, named for the diocese’s first bishop, Bishop Joseph Bernard Cotter, was a boys school directed by the Christian Brothers of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. In 1952, the Brothers turned the operation of the school over to the diocese and Cotter became co-educational with the combining of the Cathedral Girls High School. In 1953 a new Cotter building was erected and in 1962 an addition was added.