Celebrating Eighty Years of Catholic Education A Newsletter for St. Mary's/Kennedy Catholic Alumni Vol. l!Fall 2004
A HI STORY Lesson 1924-2004
Despite the cackling and name calling from local townspeople, St. Mary's was a huge success. In 1924, the building was expanded to include a high school, the foreI runner of today's Kennedy Catholic High School. Basketball, baseball and softball comprised sports offerings for both boys and girls. To play its biweekly games required extraordinary community "muscle." It was a huge effort. The same school spirit and enthusiasm that was characteristic of St. Mary's in the early days is alive and well at Kennedy Catholic eighty years later, culminating in the Gaels tide win at the 2004 NYSPH Federation and State Championships, a first for the school. There were seven students in the first graduating class of 1928; last year saw 155 students receive their diplomas from KCHS; over the past eighty years, over 10,000 students have graduated from St. Mary's I Kennedy Catholic High school. Throughout the 1950's, the demand for Catholic education in northern Westchester increased dramatically and the Archdiocese of New York
T
The History Channel tells the truth as it discovers it, often surprising and delighting its viewers in the process. Sister Christopher, Kennedy's very own History Channel, has certainly uncovered some amazing details of our own past. The historical foundation of Kennedy Catholic High School, which celebrates its Eightieth anniversary this fall, traces its roots to a building in Katonah known as Scanlon's Folly (the townspeople were very skeptical of the project) and to a convent called the Hawthorne House, formerly a tavern! Back in 1918, Monsignor Scanlon, listening to the needs and desires of a growing Catholic population in the countryside of Westchester County, searched for a building that
could serve as a school. He found a site in Katonah. In NYC, he discovered an old Knights of Columbus building with its insignia initials "K of C" engraved on its corner. The structure was moved to Katonah and a foundation was carved for the building. A total of four rooms provided room for classes. To house the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, Father Scanlon purchased the Katonah tavern and annexed it to the building. St. Mary's School was dedicated to honor the memory of two World War I soldiers whose initials coincidentally fit the cornerstone, Corporals Kelly and Candee. The first students filled the four classrooms (two up and two down) in grades one through six in 1921.