School Days

The village of North College Hill was growing rapidly. Fr. Wellman’s first big challenge was to address the need for a Catholic elementary school. A school development committee was organized in February 1923 and it wasn’t long before funds were raised to purchase the land. Determined to have a school ready for the fall term, contracts were awarded and ground breaking took place on April 1, 1923. The cornerstone was blessed and laid in place on June 3, 1923 and construction began on four classrooms and a small auditorium.
 
Along with the opening of the school, a residence was purchased to house three Sisters of the Precious Blood. Two were to be teachers and the third their housekeeper. Sr. Mary Magdaline was the first principal. Although the classrooms were not quite finished and half day sessions were to be held in the Church for the first few weeks, Archbishop Henry Moeller dedicated this first school on October 23, 1923 with 119 students enrolled. In less than nine months the parish’s dream for a school had been realized. In Spring of 1924, St. Margaret Mary proudly presented its first graduating class consisting of five students.
 
With the continued rapid growth of North College Hill, modern conveniences such as gas, water and sewage lines were installed. This drew more home builders to the area and the need for a larger school became evident. This led to the addition of two more classrooms and a basement hall. Yet the problem was not solved for long. By the next year enrollment had increased even more and the auditorium had to be used temporarily for two classrooms, thus the installation of the large panel doors many of us recall folded against the walls in the auditorium until its renovation in the 1970s.
 
The 1930’s brought the Depression and hard times to everyone. The cost of maintaining a church and a school became extremely difficult. The decision was made to put the school under the State of Ohio. It was then rented to the State which provided income for the Parish while the teachers were paid by the State. During the next two years our school was known as Public School #3 until 1942 when it was transferred back to the Parochial School System.
 
World War II finally ended and peace returned bringing with it a more stable economy. People were spending again and more homes were built in North College Hill, many by Catholic families. The school's enrollment had reached 485 students and four more classrooms were added in 1945 along with an extension of the basement into the cafeteria as we know it today. It was during this expansion project that the back northeast corner of the School collapsed during construction. In spite of this setback and subsequent delay, the structure was completed in time for the start of the school year.