MOUNT VERNON — First established in 1856, St. Vincent de Paul School, at 150 years of age, is the oldest educational facility in continuous operation in Mount Vernon. It is also the oldest Catholic school still in existence in the Columbus Diocese. Former students, alumni, graduates, current students and staff gathered Sunday to celebrate the school’s history and to rededicate the building.
A brief history of St. Vincent de Paul School
1856 — Father Julius Brent establishes a school in a residence on McArthur
Street between High and Vine streets. |
Principal Julie Kinney-Smith welcomed the guests, and narrated a video presentation of some of the school’s highlights. She reported graduation rates, tests scores and other student accomplishments. Besides academic excellence, the school, she said, has been known for outstanding athletes, and reported the St. Vincent Blue Streak is still going strong in the diocese’s recreational league.
After the Rev. Mark Hammond led the people in prayers of blessing and rededication, open house attendees took a self-guided tour of the memorabilia displayed in various rooms throughout the school.
A visual and print timeline of the school since its inception took up two walls in the gymnasium, and included photos of priests and sisters who served the school in the 1800s. The timeline, compiled by Linda and Jim Gibson, also featured pictures of the various school building incarnations, additions and renovations, along with graduation photos and news clippings.
The cafeteria served as a gathering point for alumni and current students, who shared tales of their experiences at St. Vincent, and compared notes about how things were “back then when the sisters taught” and now. Graduates also took advantage of the opportunity to reminisce with classmates and other veteran St. Vincent attendees.
A time capsule display, first communion pictures, confirmation pictures, and sports pictures from long ago fascinated current students and brought back a flood of memories to older graduates such as Bud McKenzie and Don and Georgianna Trussell.
Although the school was established in the 19th century, the Future City model, Spanish curriculum items and technology displays at the open house seemed to offer proof that St. Vincent de Paul School is still providing a relevant education here in the 21st century.
