Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow

The St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School celebrates 100 years of education and community

1918 School — Rendering of the first school on Post Avenue in 1918. Today it is St. Anthony’s Hall.

St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope School held its first classes in 1918, and had eight classrooms—four on the first floor and four on the second floor. The original schoolhouse, now used as a meeting hall known as St. Anthony’s Hall, still exists on Post Avenue and was built in the 1890s. By the 1950s, the school needed more space to meet its growing class sizes, and the current location at 101 Maple Ave. was built, with extensions added soon after.

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Today, the school is a learning community of children, professional educators, parents and families, clergy and lay ministers striving to share the message of Jesus Christ.

1904

Rev Dr McGinnis — Rev. William F. McGinnis

Rev. William F. McGinnis, DD was the pastor of St. Brigid’s Church. It was Dr. McGinnis who was responsible for the building of the current beautiful stone church. Some time after the completion fo the new church, the old building was moved across Post Avenue, where it was remodeled to hold eight classrooms. This became the first school.

1918

St. Brigid, the first Parochial School in Westbury, began classes for the first time. It was run by the Sisters of Notre Dame.

1933

1944

Fr. James A. Sullivan became Pastor. Faced with a growing population and an overcrowded school, he went door to door begging for help from his devoted parishioners to build a new school.

1954

Fr. Thomas F. Code succeeded Fr. Sullivan and worked incessantly to raise funds to pay for the completion of the new school.

1955

The day of dedication. Bishop Kearney came to dedicate the New School. The school opened on September 8, 1955 with an enrollment of 1,020 students.

1963

The popularity of St. Brigid’s School continued to grow. On October 7, 1963, ground broke for the new addition. In September 1965, the school opened with all students under one roof for the first time.

1975

Fr. Fred Schaefer becomes Pastor. A new wave of immigration was beginning. Funding was needed to allow these children to attend St. Brigid’s School. To help low enrollment school leaders decide to accept non-Catholic students.

1987

Fr. Francis X. Gaeta becomes pastor. He hired Christine Lombardi to be Principal. This was the first time in 72 years St. Brigid’s did not have a SSND as principal.

1995

St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School renamed.

1997

Mr. Paul Clagnaz becomes Principal

2001

The World Trade Center was attacked on September 11th. Sadly, the school lost the father of two young girls that day.

2004

The Catholic Elementary School Study Committee was formed by the archdiocese. This committee would take surveys and analyze the decline in enrollments.