St. Joseph's Catholic School

Black and white photograph of St. Joseph School. Courtesy of:Threadcity.us

Colorized postcard of St.Joseph's Catholic School, not dated. Photo sourced from: Threadcity.us

Willimantic also had parochial schools in addition to public schools.

Location

21 Valley Street

History

St. Joseph School was established by missionary Fr. Florimond DeBruycker in 1878. The school was established by the local Roman Catholic Church. Sessions at the school first began in April of 1878. 

The Six Sisters of Charity of Tilburg, Holland were in charge and were the main employees present. Reverend DeBruycker was the principal until his death in 1902. 

The classes were held in the basement of the Church for the boys and in the convent for the girls. The school was financially supported by the voluntary contributions of members of the parish. Two years after opening the school, a new building had to be erected on Valley Street and was later torn down in 1907. A more ostentatious structure was built afterwards, the present building of St. Joseph's School. This school also offered the teaching of the French language. The school wanted to show the connection that the French language has with English.