After Father Waanders died, pastoral care in Surabaya was handed over to the Jesuit order, where Msgr.

Pater Vanden Elzen tried to summon the Congregation of Brothers of Saint Louis Gonzaga (CSA) from Oudenbosch, the Netherlands to work in Surabaya and bring about single-sex education for boys, and in 1862, Vader Vincentius led by CSA Oudenbosch sent four brothers to Surabaya, namely: The Catholic school was officially opened on 7 July 1862, as Bijzondere Europeesche Lagere Jongens Schools (ELS) elementary school, and started with 20 pupils.

In 1923, the Congregation of Brothers of Saint Louis Gonzaga in Surabaya wishes to establish a school that refers to Dutch education system.

Apart from these educational facilities, these establishment is also close to the Surabaya Cathedral (Coen Kerk) and the Darmo hospital.

In 1942, during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, the Broederschool was used as the headquarters of the Special Police Force led by Muhammad Yasin.

Several years after the war, the St. Louis building that the Special Police borrowed as their headquarters was returned to the congregation so that it could be used as a school once again.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, St. Louis 1 Catholic High School currently ranks 2nd nationally and 1st in the Province of East Java.

[12][13] St. Louis 1 has a well-established system for encouraging its pupils to produce high-standard of work, and thus, highly selective of its prospective students.

Along with other Indonesian school system, St. Louis recognises the presence of OSIS (Student Union) in its jurisdiction.