History and Tradition

Sixty-four years ago this year, a significant part of the Roman Catholic history of the Archdiocese of Toronto was established. In 1940, the parish of Our Lady of Sorrows was established by Father Gregory Kelly. The first mass was celebrated in the new church on December 22, 1940. Following the tradition of all Catholic churches, the feast day for the parish is September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The physical school building was opened for occupancy on a 4.5 acre site in November, 1942. The original school was designed as a one storey brick building of 4,800 square feet. The building contained four classrooms and a small auditorium.

Since the building was not ready until November, classes for that school year, 1942, began in the basement of the church. Enrolment on that September 8 was 84 students. The first principal of the school was a Sister of St. Joseph, Sister Leona. Staff working with her were Sister Mary Elizabeth and Miss Rose Cassin. The St. Joseph Sisters actually lived in a small farm house which was located just to the north of the school.

Additions to the original building were made in 1949, 1963, and 1968. Enrolment in the school continued to climb over the years. In June, 1992, Our Lady of Sorrows School celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary as a school. As the Fiftieth Anniversary was being celebrated, plans were well underway to build a new school as a part of a joint venture with the City of Toronto which was working toward the completion of a newly designed recreation centre and a renovated swimming pool, Memorial Pool.

In September, 2003, students, families, and staff were able to enter the very impressive new building of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School. As this brief history is being prepared for addition to our new school website, enrolment in the school, as of October, 2006 is at 634 students. History has provided our community with a proud tradition of Catholic education. Our challenge is to ensure that those same Catholic traditions and customs not only survive but flourish in our ‘state of the art’ new building. It is our distinct hope that those treasured Catholic values are evident in all that we do in the daily activities in Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School.