A New Campus in Dedham

Katie McNally ’10

The academic year 1958–1959 saw two Ursuline Academies, as students began to transfer to the new property. In September, the 9th grade moved from Boston to Dedham, attending classes in the Convent as construction took place on the new school building.

Excitement at the new space did not escape the young students when the school finally opened in 1959. Luisa Tosi Claeys ’63 recalls:

“In the 9th grade, [we] transferred to the new Dedham campus. There we joined our other 9th-grade classmates with a class that was now more than four times the size of our 8th-grade class in Boston. In addition to the much larger class size, we were on a brand new suburban campus with modern classrooms, a real gym, and grounds for team sports. It was a whole new and different experience!”

Now with a student body of 258, including the kindergarten, Ursuline Academy was completely settled into its new home at 85 Lowder Street. The school’s dedication ceremony, held on November 22, 1959, welcomed a thousand attendees. Archbishop Cushing, now a Cardinal, presided over the dedication and blessed the building’s cornerstone. The fall of 1959 was the beginning of a new Ursuline Academy, the school as we know it today. On the cusp of the 1960s, this spiritual and educational community looked forward to much transformation, adaptation, and growth.

Settling Into a New Home in Dedham

September 1959

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Photo

1. Sisters and students unpack boxes in a Dedham classroom. 2. Ursuline students shelve books in the library. 3. An Ursuline sister gathers with students in the Convent. 4. Ursuline students study together in a new classroom.

Dedication of 85 Lowder Street

November 1959

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1. Cardinal Cushing blesses the new Ursuline school building. 2. (l. to r.) Reverend Mother Philip, N.E. Provincial and Mother St. Mark, Mother Superior, look on as Cardinal Cushing blesses the new Dedham school. 3. Billy Sullivan, Master of Ceremonies at the Dedication. 4. Cardinal Cushing enters the lobby.

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