St. Mary's School
St. Mary's School was the other religious school in Willimantic.
Location
35 Valley Street
Grades
Up to Eighth grade
History
St. Mary's School was established by the St. Mary's parish which was created especially for the increasingly large population of French-Canadians. Under the lead of Reverend John Flemming, a brick building was erected on Valley Street in 1907 in the same street St. Joseph's School is in. The buildings and locations for these two schools still exist to this day.
What was Taught
In addition to the usual grammar school studies (elementary education), there was also music, drawing, and sewing classes. There was also a business deparment where students who graduated eighth grade could attend for training in business principles and practice. A course in the French language was also taught given the dominant presence of French Canadian Catholics in the area.
Attendance
For the 1910-1911 academic year, attendance required 16 teachers. As reported in The Willimantic Chronicle, the school opened in September 6th for the fall semster and on opening day had 665 students enrolled (318 boys and 347 girls).
Graduates
The number of graduating students continuing on to high school was small as most of the students went to a Canadian school.