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March
6, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 5Oakland,
CA
Two Catholic schools mark 125 years in Alameda
Catholic
education arrived in Alameda in 1881, preceding the formation of the first
parish, St. Joseph, by four years. At that time Alameda was a rural peninsula
inhabited by about 6,000 residents. The Catholics were served by St. Anthony
Parish in east Oakland, whose pastor, Father William Gleeson, traveled
by horseback or by foot to say Mass in the mission chapel on the corner
of Chestnut Street and San Antonio Avenue.
It was Father Gleeson who invited the Sisters of the Notre Dame de Namur
to establish a school in Alameda. Four Sisters, headed by Sister Marie
du Sacre Coeur, moved into their new convent in March 1881 and soon opened
Notre Dame Academy for girls in grades one through 12.
On the first day of class, 37 students arrived and the Sisters divided
them into two classes. They also accepted the seven young boys who showed
up. Eventually, St. Joseph Elementary School and two high schools (Notre
Dame Academy for girls and St. Joseph High for boys) were established.
St. Joseph Parish was established in 1885.
In 1935, the Marianist Brothers assumed responsibility for the administration
of St. Joseph High with Marianist Brother Matthew Betz as principal. Brother
Charles Weiss joined the faculty for the 33 freshmen and 24 sophomores,
who came not only from Alameda, but also from Oakland, San Leandro and
Berkeley.
In the late 1950s, when the schools’ buildings began to show the
wear of time, Msgr. Alvin Wagner, pastor at St. Joseph Parish, suggested
that a new high school for girls be built and that the boys’ high
school undergo renovation. The plan was realized in 1960 when a new building
replaced Notre Dame Academy.
The Marianist Brothers relinquished responsibility for St. Joseph High
in 1970, and gradually both high schools began sharing classes and developing
a joint curriculum.
During the 1984-85 school year, the schools started the formal process
of consolidating into one co-educational school. St. Joseph Notre Dame
High School opened in September 1985.
Tony Aiello, St. Joseph Notre Dame High principal, said it was the support
of the whole parish-school community, under the direction of then-pastor
Father Patrick Goodwin, that made the merger “as seamless as possible.”
The Notre Dame Sisters ended their administrative role at the high school
in the early 1980s, but the Sisters continued to serve in the school through
1990. The last of the Sisters to minister in the elementary school, Sister
Agnes Anzoli, left in the
1990s. Mandy Tham is the current principal.
Over the past 20 years, the parish’s schools and parish buildings
have been renovated and remodeled and today all the entities work together
as St. Joseph Community with a master facilities plan.
For example, SJND, which recently completed a $5.5 million capital campaign,
has expanded and modernized its library and built a new music center.
“We eagerly await the completion of the new science center and the
renovated gymnasium," said Aiello of the project expected to be completed
next year.
Because the elementary school and high school are on the same campus,
they share a close and complementary relationship. Students from the high
school tutor at the elementary school and assist teachers in the classrooms.
Meanwhile eligible students from the elementary school take advanced classes
like Algebra I or geometry at the high school.
St. Joseph Notre Dame High School has a current enrollment of 508 students,
and St. Joseph Elementary School has 260 students.
Timeline 1881:
Notre Dame Sister Marie de Sacre Coeur comes to Alameda with a group
of four Sisters and opens Notre Dame Academy. |
St. Joseph High 1939 basketball team added to the school’s athletic tradition.
Girls graduating from Notre Dame Academy gather afterwards for an informal picture.
In the 1880s St. Joseph School had accommodations for student boarders.
