HISTORY OF SAINT HENRY SCHOOL

 

 

     Our school began in 1893 in a small building on Shaw Avenue in Elsmere, opposite the church.  For the next six years the education of the students was given by Mr. R. Renikins, Mr. Peter Berberich, Mr. Otto Fritz, and Miss Belle Pratt.   It was in 1899 that the pastor of St. Henry, Father Kolbe, engaged the Sisters of Saint Benedict from Covington to take over the charge of the school in September.  (Sisters Martina, Camilla, Christina and Josephine.)

 

     On Sunday, August 27, 1899 one month before school was to open, the Church burned to the ground but the schoolhouse was saved.  However, the school house was no longer suitable for holding classes, so Father Kolbe asked a parishioner, Mrs. Morelli, to give over one half of her home to the Sisters of Saint Benedict, and the parish rented a little cottage in the rear of Mrs. Morelli's home for a schoolhouse.   School reopened in September.   Daily Mass was offered each morning in the living room of the Sisters' house, and the children were given religious instruction as well as the other educational subjects.

 

     In 1900, on May 20, the corner stone was laid for the new church building that was to serve a threefold purpose.  It was a Church auditorium upstairs, and the classrooms and living quarters for the Sisters were downstairs.  The congregation slowly but steadily improved, and foreseeing the future needs of the parish.   Father Kolbe, with the help of friends, purchased four lots adjacent to the church property.

 

     On July 7, in 1916, Father Bealer became the pastor of St. Henry, and soon transformed the four lots into a playground for the children.  There were eight grades, with two grades in each room on the opposite side of the hallway from the Sisters' quarters.    Four nuns taught religion, math, reading, geography, history, spelling and penmanship.  Recess for the students was fifteen minutes. The children played baseball, and they also had a Maypole on the playground.  Students attended Mass daily and recited the rosary.

 

     Because of ever-increasing numbers, it became necessary in 1921 to use the Sisters' apartments for classrooms and construct a separate residence for the Sisters.

 

      In 1927 the girls wore a navy blue jumper with an off-white blouse and there were thirty plus students in first grade.  At this time the entire school was taught by the Sister of St Benedict.  In 1929, it became necessary to build a two room frame schoolhouse between the church and the rectory.  This new two-room school building was increased to four rooms in September of 1933.  The year 1933 was also the beginning of our high school with one grade increasing to four grades in 1936.  The parishioners were always willing to sacrifice and do all they could to keep St Henry School strong.  They were truly a committed parish in regard to education, and most parishioners felt an obligation to send their children to a Catholic school.

 

      In the 1940's, grade school classes were held in an old gray frame building where our middle school now stands.  The children enjoyed playground equipment consisting of a slide, a large swing set, and a merry-go-round.  The desks in the classrooms were on runners and they had inkwells on top.  Nuns sold candy to the children and lunch tokens in the morning, while students did written seatwork.  Children were permitted to walk home for lunch.  All children attended daily Mass and after Mass they were taught religion using the Baltimore catechism, and a separate Bible history book.  Other subjects taught during the day were reading, spelling, English, history, geography, science and penmanship.  Occasionally art and music were included.

 

      In 1949, a new school building became necessary.  St. Henry School now had twenty-nine rooms to use and a gymnasium.  We also had a kindergarten taught by Sister Mercedes.  The students were given instruction in self-contained classrooms.  In the early 1950's we did get one lay teacher for the sixth grade, Miss Wanda Fischer, who married the following year and became Mrs. Yost. 

 

      In 1956, there were twenty-five nuns who served on the staff of a growing St. Henry School.  Our school was fortunate to have a strong volunteer effort from parents.  We especially had a strong PTA then, and now we still have a hard working-deeply committed PTO to give our  school the best.

 

      It was in 1958 that the pastor, Monsignor Egbring, asked the president of the PTO to begin the school book rental program.  With $1,500 from the organization and $5 for book rental from each family, another program was launched to benefit the children.  During the summer, mothers would gather to clean and repair books for the coming school year.  This working together built many strong friendships among the parishioners and surely kept the mission of education uppermost in  people's minds.  This same year the PTA asked Mrs. Bates to temporarily take over the cafeteria - She obliged and retired in October of 1991.

 

      Because our school's enrollment was so high it became necessary to drop our first grade and those children attended the public school in the early 1960's.  We had no diocesan pay scale in the 50's and early 60's.  Instead the salary was determined by the pastor.  In 1958 for example, the lay teacher of a second grade class of 64 children received $1,800 a year.  That $1,800 in 1958 went up $100 a year.  A diocesan pay scale was begun in 1974.  In the 1950's and 1960's, the classroom teacher taught every subject including music, art, penmanship, and much later – physical education.  The lay teachers worked with the Sisters selling candy at recess and shared playground duty in all weather.

 

      Girls changed from a navy blue jumper to a plaid uniform in the 1960's.  It was common to have fifty plus students in a room with one teacher, and during the 1960's St. Henry School had four classes of each grade level.  Some of the classes were held in the basement of the gym building because of the large numbers.  Parents were really committed to Catholic education!

 

      In 1964, our enrollment of 1,105 children was the largest in the Covington diocese.  The next year we had three few students - 1,102.  Once again an apparent need for more space was presented to the parish, and the construction of the middle school building began and the cornerstone was placed in 1964 to accommodate the students.  When this new building opened for classes in September, there were four eighth grade classrooms on the top floor, seventh grades on the first, and three sixth grades, one fifth and one-fourth grade in the basement.  Our library was contained in one small area used today by our janitors for a work area.  The teachers had a card table in the boiler room that housed an occasional jar of peanut butter and crackers for recess.  We also had a small bookstore built in the hallway of the basement.  The faculty in 1964 consisted of twelve Sisters and fourteen lay teachers.

 

      In 1973, the religious faculty numbered five and the lay faculty was fifteen.  These numbers sharply decreased so that by 1983, St. Henry Elementary School employed one religious educator and twenty-one lay teachers.  During the 1970's our school began a new trend of grouping children according to ability in the homeroom and some teachers began to departmentalize in reading, math and other subjects.  By the end of the 1970's grouping students according to ability no longer seemed prudent, and the classes were mixed.

 

      In the early 1980's teachers, for the first time, were given medical coverage, and in 1984-85, medical and retirement benefits were given to full and part time personnel.  It was in 1984 that the Saint Henry Parish Board of Education elected to hire a lay principal, Mr. Philip Gessner, for the grade school.  Under his leadership, our enrollment grew as we began to rebuild our kindergarten and offer two sessions a day to the young five-year-olds.  Our library, under Mrs. Scheben's direction, also grew with new quarters and the largest selection of books found anywhere in an elementary school.  In 1993-94 air conditioning was added to the library and computer rooms.   Our students from K through 8th grade had regular music classes each week for the first time, and students in grades 5 and 6 had the opportunity to sing in a chorus.  Working with the faculty, the teachers chose the new textbooks to be ordered in various subject areas, and were soon given the opportunity to teach the subject (subjects) that most interested them.

 

      Saint Henry School pioneered in offering an accelerated program in reading, math, and art-once again benefiting our youth.  Eighth grade students now take high school algebra and Spanish classes.  For the first time in the 1980's at SHS, girls and boys wore a uniform to school.  All school personnel enjoy the luxury of a full-time secretary and numerous volunteers in the office as well as in classrooms. These secretaries make the individual teacher's load a bit lighter as they tackle various projects for each classroom teacher.

 

      Learning and working together has brought still another change in progress as we began a Whole Language Program in our school from K through 8th grade in the 1991-92 school year.  Students in all grades benefit from computer instruction that grows every year.  In grades six to eight, the students like the exchange of classes, and now seem to be better prepared for high school.

 

      As of April, 1996 our elementary grades K through 8 had an enrollment of 492 students with twenty-two full time teachers.  In addition it had two teachers instructing in Chapter I, and athletic director, a development director, a volunteer coordinator, and two D.A.R.E. officers.

 

      As a result of clearly written future plans, our students have benefited immensely from programs such as a full-time computer teacher for all grades, a yearly eighth grade class play since 1984; put on by the entire eighth grade class; an outstanding yearbook begun in 1986 involving student volunteers and a faculty advisor; music lessons by Mr. Gary Devoto, on the guitar and keyboard have been offered since 1994 to any interested student; a school newspaper entitled Crusader Quarterly,  begun in 1994, and written by all students in grades 6-8; a Quick Recall team, a Math team, diocesan academic competition and Governor’s Cup participants,  Student Council consisting of two representatives from each homeroom in grades 6-8, and one teacher coordinator; and a valuable Everybody Counts program in grades K-8 with volunteer parents and speakers who teach our students about the various handicaps people have.

 

      For the past sixteen years, our music teacher has presented excellent concerts twice yearly with her 5th, 6th, 7th and 8the grade chorus to the delight of our parishioners and the general public.  In addition, our fifth and sixth grade student students attend twp performances of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

 

      Our librarian, Mrs. Edwina Scheben, who has been at St. Henry School for twenty-eight years, has converted her card catalogue to a computer as of 1995.

 

      During the 1995 Catholic Schools’ Week, a Hall of Fame induction ceremony honoring men and women who have served St. Henry School in various ways over the years was initiated.

 

      Since the 1992-1993 school year, our students in grades 7 & 8, their teachers, the principal, Mr. Philip Gessner, the secretary, Mrs. Genene Sheridan, and many volunteers and generous contributors have twice participated in the Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks celebration.  In October of 1995, the middle school building was turned into a paddlewheel boat to the delight of many!  The teachers and students of grades 7 & 8 researched the history of life along the Ohio River and acted as guides who instructed the entire student body through various displays and group presentations depicting life on the river long ago.

 

      Besides classroom activities, our students enjoy a variety of sports at St. Henry including the following:  Boys’ basketball teams in grades 4 through 8, and an instruction program in grades K-3.  Girls’ basketball in grades 4-8; Girls’ volleyball in grades 4-8; Boys and girls’ soccer in all grades with some 8th graders working with the high school soccer team.  Boys’ and girls’ Cross Country teams in grades 7 & 8 are also with the high school.   Our eighth graders may elect to play golf on the high school team.  Cheerleading is for girls in grades 7 & 8.

 

      Three times a year, the students in grades 6-8 gather together for a time of fun in the church basement for three dances sponsored by the eighth graders. 

 

      Our faculty and staff also enjoy one another’s company at our annual Christmas program and celebration, our spring golf outing, and our end of the year picnic.

 

      As you might guess, it is because we have solid Catholic leadership plus a committed faculty and staff who consistently return each year and many parent volunteers who give of themselves constantly and are so supportive of Catholic school, that Saint Henry School ranks first, and improves every year because each of us knows what our goals are and cooperatively live the school’s philosophy.