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T h e   H i s t o r y   o f   S t.   V i a t o r   S c h o o l

St. Viator School was started in 1902, 14 years after the Clerics of St. Viator founded the St. Viator Parish. Father Thomas McCormick, the pastor of the parish at that time, chose the Sisters of St. Joseph to be the teachers in the school. At the beginning, there were 40 school children taught by two sisters. At first, the school was a modest building located near the parish's frame church. But in 1910, the original part of the present school building was built. The church was on the first floor and the classrooms were on the second and third floor. From 1916 until 1924, the Sisters of St. Joseph also ran a girls' high school in the school building. In 1929, when the present Church was dedicated, the entire building became an elementary school that had an enrollment of about 800 students. Enrollment stayed at those levels throughout the 1960s, when Mrs. Mary Pat Serpone, the school's pre-K aide and KidCare supervisor, attended St. Viator. There was no KidCare back then, and no hot lunch program either.

Children who lived close to school went home for lunch. But some things were the same. For example, the students wore uniforms - but the girls' jumpers and skirts were blue. And girls were not allowed to wear pants. Ms. Anita Aiello, the school's junior high math teacher, began teaching at St. Viator about five years after Mrs. Serpone graduated. By then the uniforms were more like the ones worn today. The class sizes were still bigger; Ms. Aiello had 33 students in her first class. About one-half of the teachers, and the principal, were sisters. Ms. Aiello pointed out one other big difference: there were no computers. Today not only is there a computer lab and teacher, but students can use computers right in their own classrooms. No matter how things have changed over the years, one thing remains constant. St. Viator School is, and always will be, guided by Father McCormick's belief that setting high standards for education is an utmost priority. Room 305