Cathedral Grade School history: Devastating fire, scarlet fever, soup for a nickel

The Catholic Diocese of Belleville merged three grade schools to form Notre Dame Academy in 2015, and one of them, Cathedral Grade School, was operated by its flagship parish.

That made Thursday’s announcement that the diocese plans to close Notre Dame this year even more significant.

The school’s roots go back to the 1840s, according to Bill Schaab, 72, of Belleville, who wrote “The History of Cathedral Grade School” in conjunction with its 150th anniversary celebration in 1997-98.

“I was the second generation in my family to go there, and then my daughter went there,” he said Thursday. “It was my first teaching job, and I ended up being school board president.”

Throughout its history, the school used 1847 as its founding date. However, Schaab now believes classes were held in the basement of the old St. Peter Catholic Church even earlier.

“I found other information later that it was 1845,” he said.

Here’s a school timeline with information from Schaab’s book, as well as BND archives:

May 30, 1847: A dedication ceremony is held following the remodeling of the old St. Peter Catholic Church. The Rev. Caspar Ostlangenberg announces that classes for Cathedral Grade School will be held in the church basement starting in the 1847-48 school year. (As explained above, this date is now in question.)

Summer 1847: Plans are made to build a school building and find a teacher.

September 1848: A two-room schoolhouse, constructed for $400, opens at the corner of Race and Third South streets (now South Third and West Harrison) in Belleville. It serves 78 upper-grade students. Lower-grade students continue to meet in the church basement.

November 1855: Ostlangenberg, the school’s founder, leaves Belleville to become quasi Vicar General of Catholics in Chicago.

Oct. 5, 1859: Immaculate Conception Academy, a Catholic boarding school for girls, is completed at a cost of $8,437.

Oct. 15, 1859: The School Sisters of Notre Dame arrive from Milwaukee to staff the academy. Sister Mary Jerome Heil is appointed superioress.

1863: The academy building, which also provides classroom space for Cathedral Grade School students, is enlarged to handle increased enrollment. The original two-room schoolhouse is moved to the west side of Race Street between Second South and Third South streets (South Third between West Lincoln and West Harrison).

1866: The new Cathedral of St. Peter is completed on the former schoolhouse site.

Late 1874: A brick building costing $7,000 is erected at the southwest corner of Race and Second South streets (now South Third and West Lincoln) to serve young men in “all branches of higher education.”

Mid-August 1879: St. Agnes Orphan Asylum, at the southwest corner of Race and Second South streets (now South Third and West Lincoln), is completed for $8,300. Besides orphan dormitories, it contains classroom space for Cathedral Grade School.

Jan. 5, 1884: The darkest day in Cathedral’s history. A devastating fire destroys Immaculate Conception Academy, kills 22 girls and four nuns, including Sister Mary Jerome Heil. (They were later honored with a monument at Green Mount Cemetery.)

Nov. 4, 1885: A new convent and academy, built on the same site, is dedicated to Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) in memory of those who died in the fire. It also houses Cathedral Grade School until 1958 and Cathedral High School until 1964.

August 1905: The Brothers of Mary come to Cathedral of St. Peter parish to teach boys in grades 4-8 and high school.

Oct. 6, 1909: The School Sisters of Notre Dame celebrate the 50th anniversary of their arrival in Belleville.

September 1913: Sister Pacifica Funke begins her 58-year career teaching lower-grade students at Cathedral Grade School. (She retired after the 1969-70 school year and died on April 17, 1972.)

Feb. 2, 1914: The St. Clair County Board of Health closes the school after detecting 31 cases of scarlet fever among Belleville students. Fourteen children die, most from the Cathedral parish.

Sept. 4, 1928: The school begins mixed classes for grades kindergarten through fourth. Enrollment is 647 students.

Great Depression: The school cafeteria sells soup for a nickel and sandwiches for a dime.

September 1933: Cathedral Grade School introduces uniforms for girls. They’re not mandatory, but the parish asks for 100% cooperation.

January 1940: Basketball is first interscholastic sport played by students.

Aug. 31, 1958: Bishop Albert Zuroweste dedicates the new school building at 200 S. Second St.

Oct. 3, 1960: Students in grades 5-8 are taken to Belleville Public Square to see and hear presidential candidate John F. Kennedy speak.

Sept. 9, 1982: Ground is broken for a new Cathedral Grade School gym. It costs $580,000 to build.

1986: The school gets its first 15 computers through the Schnucks Computers For Education program.

1997-98: The school celebrates its 150th anniversary.

December 2008: Students hold Mass in the school’s new chapel.

In 2014, the diocese announced it would merge Cathedral Grade School with the already merged St. Mary-St. Augustine of Canterbury School in Belleville to form a new three-campus Notre Dame Academy the following year.

It was organized so that the Cathedral building housed upper-grade students; the St. Augustine building was transformed into an early-learning center; and the former St. Mary building, which had closed in 2008, was reopened to house Public School Religion classes for all three parishes.

Now Notre Dame is being closed due to decreasing enrollments, according to diocesan leaders.

Editor’s note: This story was corrected on Jan. 21 to take into account the renaming of many Belleville streets, including Second South Street and Third South Street, in 1918.