St. Mary’s School
Randolph, MA
1961-1980
Randolph, MA
1961-1980
The Town of Randolph, Massachusetts grew substantially after
World War II from a small community of shoe manufacturing, farming, and ice harvesting to a commuter suburb. The population of about 10,000 in 1950 exploded to 28,000 in
1970. Large post WWII suburban
neighborhoods of modest ranches and Cape style homes proliferated. The rapid expansion of the town brought many
children needing education as large families were formed.
Simultaneously, the faith community was growing and diversifying.

One hundred years after the opening of St. Mary’s Church the Catholic faith community was undergoing major growth as the town population expanded rapidly. The Boston Archdiocese added
a second parish in North Randolph, St. Bernadette’s Church, and in the Baby
Boom period built a new church for that parish to accommodate the growth in
Catholic population.
The Jewish population was also growing from a few dozen in
1950 to 7,000 or nearly 25% of the population in 1970. By 1990 the Jewish population had peaked at
9,000. Temple Beth Am was constructed in North
Randolph to accommodate the needs of the Jewish Community.
The child population growth eventually exceeded the ability of the Randolph School System to
provide sufficient classroom space. In the late 1950s, Father Cornelius P. Mason, Pastor of
St. Mary’s, took the opportunity to begin a fundraising effort that could both
advance traditional Catholic education and provide some relief to the bursting
Randolph Schools. He would build a new 1 through 8 Catholic school.
St. Mary's School officially opened on October 2, 1961 with first and second grade classes. Fr. Mason was to dedicate the school on November 11, 1961, but died suddenly and the dedication was held a short time later by his replacement, Fr. John S. Kearns. He oversaw the completion of the school project construction and quickly became a driving force for the school during his tenure as pastor (1961-1968).
The school was a part of St Mary Parish of Randolph,
MA. As such it was administratively and
financially supervised by the Pastor and priests of the parish. Priests visited the school often for officiating and services in the school hall. Familiar faces were Fr. Kearns (died of
cancer 1974). Fr. James Cosgrove, Fr. Eugene Dunn (left
priesthood to marry), and Father James Hickey (recently retired). The building was maintained by Mr. Joe Gunther, who also maintained the cemetery.


Sister Agnes Virginia taught 2nd grade and served as Principal. She was later replaced by Sr.
Rita Edward. Sister Marion Grace later became Principal.
Former students attempted online in social media to recall the names of teachers
at the school with mixed success. Below
are those that could be remembered:
The school was financially supported by tuition. Many families struggled to pay the tuition
for their children. There were
benefactors who contributed to the school to lessen the burden and more than one
family was helped by Father Kearns.
Uniforms were worn by all students. The girls in blue plaid jumper dresses over
white shirts with bow ties. The boys in navy
blue pants, light blue shirts, and blue clip-on neck ties.
Most students who attended the school considered the experience a
positive impact on their lives to which they look back with fondness. Like any large shared experience that was not true for all students.



The school abutted the St. Mary’s Cemetery property. On a warm Spring day as the children grew restless some of the teachers would take the children out into the cemetery to a clear patch of grass and read to them. Breaks from the day to day patterns like this seem to be stamped in young memories.

Of course, there were always some mischievous boys who might
sneak away from the recess area to the back of the school to look for frogs in
the nearby Glovers Brook, a tributary of the Cochato River that feeds the Richardi Reservoir in North Randolph. Such tom foolery never
escaped the watchful eye of the sisters.
A big surprise in the late 1966 was the addition of a Candy
Closet. Students could purchase candy
bars from a very sweet retired nun who managed the candy. No doubt it was a fundraising mechanism of
some sort. It cannot be clear how much
profit was made as that sweet old nun seemed to give out more candy than she
sold.
In the 1973-74 school year public kindergarten classes (AM and PM) occupied available classroom space. These classes were moved to the Stetson School the following year.
St. Mary's School closed in 1980 due to declining enrollment as the town aged and demographics changed. It has since been used as the Parish Religious Education Center, and, in recent years, 2/3 of the school has been leased to The Learning Center for Deaf Children in Framingham.
All-in-all a wonderful experience of a time gone by. Many friendships were made and maintained for
life and the education received served the students well.
A number of former students sent along class pictures. Some included keys to identify the students in the photographs. The pictures follow. If you have a correction or addition you would like to make please send me an email at libertytakeseffort@gmail.com Dan Gallagher
Grade 1B 1963-1964
Grade 2B 1964-1965 Sister Agnes Virginia
Grade 6B - 1966-1967
Grade 8A - 1969-1970
Grade 8A - 1970-1971
(Many also in Grade 2B 1964 above)
Grade 3B 1966-1967
Grade 8A 1971-1972
Found this article by accident. Sisters Joanne and Louise were my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI was in Happy memories.first grade in 1961-1962. I remember having Sister Joseph Killeen for both second and fourth grades. She loved playing kickball and was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI attended 1st through 8th grade at St Mary's from 1963 through 1971 and it is fun to see myself in two of the class photos depicted above. And my older brother can be seen in the first photo. Thank you for such a great article. It was so fun to happen upon it.
ReplyDelete