![]() ![]() Oak Park then was like its own little world, but with all the realities of the big city right next to it.”Īs schools across the country struggled in response to integration, Ascension, like all of Oak Park, had to face a changing society. “I used to ride my bike to Concordia to take my classes to get certified as an administrator. She recalls her first administrative job as challenging but very rewarding. Sister Lois Castillon served as Ascension principal from 1975 to 1980. By 1977 school enrollment was down to 493. As more lay teachers had to be paid, tuition rose, and many families began to choose other schools for their children. As changes within the church led to fewer young women joining the Ursuline Order, fewer nuns were available to serve as teachers. School enrollment peaked in 1963, when there were over 1,200 students at Ascension. She continued to volunteer as a tutor at the school for 10 more years. Ott taught at Ascension until retiring in 1994, after 35 years of service. ![]() I learned more from those two years than I could have learned from a master’s degree in education. “I had no books and no equipment,” she reminisces, “but somehow managed to do the work, so I was asked to return to teach that same class the next year. Ott began teaching science to the seventh grade. When Ascension wanted to beef up its science program, Ott’s sister Miriam volunteered her to help, thinking Ott’s degree in biology and chemistry would be helpful. Traditions such as the May Crowning of Mary and the annual Cookie Walk began during this time period.įormer teacher Jean Ott, who attended Ascension from 1935 to 1943, recalls how she came to teach at the school.ĭuring the 1950s, she writes, the Cold War and Russia’s launch of the Sputnik satellite brought much attention to science programs in local schools. Students from the 1950s recall roller-skating in the new gym on the beautiful parquet floor after school and the emphasis on school sports, including football and baseball. ![]() His successor, Monsignor John Fitzgerald carried on with the addition, and in October of 1954, an addition opened that included a gym, youth center, kindergarten rooms and more classrooms. In the school year of 1950-51, with the student population at 725, Father Ryan had plans drawn up for an addition to the school that would include more classrooms and a gymnasium, but Father Ryan passed away suddenly in 1951 before he could put the plans in motion. That number would more than double in the next 15 years as soldiers returned from World War II and started the Baby Boom. In 1946, 594 children were enrolled at the school. The Pine Room replace the former lower level parish hall, creating a gathering place for school and parish events. In 1944, cloakrooms were replaced with lockers, fluorescent lighting lit the classrooms, new ceilings were insulated for sound, and new desks and flooring were installed. Many changes came to the school in the 1940s under the guidance of Father Francis “Packey” Ryan who modernized the school. Nineteen nuns served the school by 1939, and the building that had once housed the church, convent and classrooms, was now dedicated to classrooms on all three floors. Despite the initial challenges, the school steadily grew. ![]()
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