Celebrating 110 Years of Service to West Haven!
Saint Lawrence Parish, founded in 1886, celebrated its first Mass at its present structure in 1910. Shortly after this time, under the direction of Reverend Jeremiah Curtain, plans were made to open a school for Christian education of parish children. In 1917 Saint Lawrence School opened under the direction of two Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery. The brick structure was designed to contain twelve classrooms. The upper floor was used as a dormitory for the sisters while the convent was being erected. In 1920, the upper floor classrooms of the school were opened. This completed the configuration of grades 1-8 in the school. A kindergarten was opened in 1940 and continued for nine years. In 1955 a new addition, which included four classrooms, a gym/auditorium, student lavatories, and an office complex, was added. By this time the enrollment had increased to 450 students with two sections of each grade level. This class structure continued for approximately 25 years.
With the restructuring of another area Catholic School in West Haven from a middle school to a complete K-8 school, families from the West Shore area no longer needed to avail themselves of the services of Saint Lawrence School. This, together with an economic recession, caused a drop in enrollment at Saint Lawrence School. Therefore, during the 1980-1981 school years a plan was implemented to restructure the school, which included maintaining one section of each grade. This was a gradual process that took several years to complete. However, it allowed space to reopen a kindergarten class in 1980 as a half-day program in two sessions.
In 1989, it was decided to have one full-day kindergarten program. This decision noticeably impacted enrollment at this level. This restructuring also enabled the school to solidify its financial base and to create new programs such as pre-kindergarten (1988) and an after-school program (1990). The main office was relocated to a more accessible area on the main floor. In recent years, a music room, science lab and an art room have been established. The library has been relocated and enlarged.
The present-day school now houses a pre-kindergarten program for 3- and 4-year-olds, a full-day kindergarten program and one section of each of Grades 1 through 8. Other factors that have positively influenced enrollment trends is the availability of school transportation provided by the City of West Haven, the closing of St. Louis School and the welcoming of students from other faiths.
In the spring of 1995 the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had served the school successfully for 78 years, informed the pastor that their community could no longer provide personnel for the administration of the school. The parish then engaged the service of the sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who assumed the leadership of the school on July 1, 1995. Under their direction, the school continued to flourish and maintain a high level of academic excellence grounded in Catholic theology and philosophy.
On June 30, 2000, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur turned over the leadership of the school to Mary Pat Wirkus. This would also be a milestone in the history of Saint Lawrence School as she would serve as the first lay administrator of the school without any religious sisters on staff. Another milestone in the history of Saint Lawrence School took place in August 2007, when Mr. Paul R. DeFonzo was appointed the first male lay administrator of the school until his retirement in June 2022. Mr. Frank Arnone was the principal of the school from 2022 through 2024, and Mr. Jim Messina began serving as principal in July 2024.