St. Thomas School marks 50 years of Catholic education in Sanford, Maine

For Catholics in Sanford, a lot has changed in the past 50 years.

In 1972, for instance, there were three churches in town, each with its own parish and priest: Saint Ignatius in downtown Sanford, Holy Family on the East Side, and Notre Dame in Springvale. Come 2006, just one pastor became responsible for leading all three churches. In 2010, with the closure of Saint Ignatius, there were no longer three Catholic churches, but two – and in time, they were combined into a single entity, St. Therese of Lisieux Parish.

That’s a lot of change. As someone who grew up in downtown Sanford and attended Mass and Sunday School at St. Ignatius Church, and got married there, I can attest to such change. And, as someone who now serves on the parish council, I can attest that more changes, exciting ones, are coming in the future.

Throughout all of this change, however, there has been one constant during the past 50 years: St. Thomas School.

The school opened at the corner of Winter Street and North Avenue in the fall of 1972 and ever since has been a reliable fixture, educating thousands of students. And this Sunday, Oct. 23, Father Bill Labbe, administrators, teachers, students, their families and others officially will celebrate the school’s half-century mark.

The celebration will begin with the Mass at Holy Family Church on North Avenue at 10 a.m. Afterward, there will be a special gathering at the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum, where a new exhibit that chronicles five decades of Catholic education at St. Thomas School can be viewed by the public. The museum is located at 505 Main Street in Springvale.

When St. Thomas School opened 50 years ago, its future beyond the 1972-1973 academic year was not at all guaranteed. The school’s first board of directors had to make all sorts of tough calls related to funding, staffing, equipment and enrollment.

In fact, it was through the generosity of the school’s first board of directors that the place even got started to begin with. To quote the late Richard Bergeron, one of the founders who wrote a history of the school for its 35th anniversary in 2007, it was a “time of great stress and frustration, as the struggle continued to preserve Catholic education.”

According to Bergeron, the school at one point needed $30,000 for equipment and supplies, particularly for the cafeteria. The lay people on the school board proved to be saviors there: they used their own collateral in signing for a loan.

“Despite their own businesses and family concerns, each of the members was so convinced of the importance of the school that they each signed a promissory note for $5,000,” Bergeron wrote.

More Shawn Sullivan: What's on your Halloween reading list?

The school is the last of its kind in Sanford-Springvale. During its time, St. Ignatius Church offered education for all grade levels, including a high school, which closed in 1969. Notre Dame and Holy Family parishes also offered elementary education.

The closing of Saint Ignatius High School – as well as the economy of the early 1970s and a growing shortage of nuns, brothers and priests – had Bergeron and others concerned about the fate of Catholic education in Sanford. Each of the three parish councils in town got together to discuss the idea of consolidating the remaining elementary schools into one.

This they did, in April of 1972. With the decision to consolidate a go, Sister Therese Berube was tapped as the new school’s first principal – a position she would hold until she died in 1990.

A new school board, comprised of all three priests and one layperson per parish, formed that April and decided that Holy Family School on North Avenue would become the new consolidated school. According to the history written by Bergeron, Father Adrian Palardy is credited with naming the new school after Saint Thomas Aquinas. It was a fitting choice. Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of scholars.

And now, here we are, 50 years later. On a recent Friday, Principal Jessica Rice and Ericka Sanborn, the school’s director of legacy, marketing and enrollment, shared what they believe to be the secret of St. Thomas School’s longevity.

Sanborn sure is in a position to weigh in on that – she attended St. Thomas School in the '80s, now has children of her own who go there, and, of course, there’s the position she holds.

“When I think of what St. Thomas represents, we are blessed to be able to say that Christ is central to everything that we do,” Sanborn said.

Sanborn added that the school has a “tremendous history of academic excellence,” one that shows itself most years when Sanford High School announces the top ten students of a graduating class. A lot of seniors in that lineup went to St. Thomas as children.

“I think that says a lot,” Sanborn said. “Teachers help students find their voice to be comfortable exploring their gifts and talents and trying new things. Once that confidence is instilled, along with a really strong academic program, that’s when students soar. That’s when we see them just make these tremendous leaps – not only academically, but personally, spiritually.”

It all goes back to the school’s mission, Rice added.

“We educate the whole child,” she said. “It’s not just about the knowledge. It’s about what that knowledge does to us as people ... That plays a huge role in why our students, when they leave here, they’re going forth as a whole person.”

Parishioner Claire Auger is the lead organizer for the school’s celebration on Sunday. She has ties to St. Thomas School that go back even further than Sanborn’s – indeed, hers go all the way back to the beginning. Auger and her late husband, Gil, sent all four of their children to St. Thomas School, and their oldest even attended during the 1972-1973 academic year.

Auger was active in the school during those years her children were students. There was a stretch when she pulled back a bit in her involvement – she was a French teacher at the junior high and spent some of her earlier years of retirement in Florida – but in recent times she has really been one to roll up her sleeves and help keep the school active and vibrant.

I spoke with Auger at her home one recent morning. She shared stories of her own Catholic education as a young person and emphasized her support for that of the kids today who attend St. Thomas. She explained why volunteering at the school, even after her grandchildren have long since graduated from there, is so important to her.

“I love teaching,” she said. “And I’m very into my faith. Part of my faith is evangelization. It’s not like proselytizing. It’s making the Christian way of life known and loved.”

Volunteering at St. Thomas School, in any capacity in which she is needed, is how Auger accomplishes that personal mission. Like Rice and Sanborn, Auger said she loves the feeling of community that the school has – and has had for 50 years and, she hopes, with 50 more.

“It’s just been part of my life,” Auger said. “I just can’t imagine life without St. Thomas in it.”

Shawn P. Sullivan is an award-winning columnist and is a reporter for the York County Coast Star. He can be reached at ssullivan@seacoastonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: St. Thomas School marks 50 years of Catholic education in Sanford, ME