About

History

St. Mary Catholic School, Elora opened in 1872 with forty students when a single room was partitioned off at the entrance to the local Church, Church of Mary Immaculate. In 1889 a red brick school house was erected across from the church on Geddes Street to accommodate the growing number of students.

In 1942, Rev. Pastor V.M. Shea decided to have the Sisters of Notre Dame, a local religious order that had been instumental in setting up a number of other Catholic Schools in the area take over running the classes in the growing school.

St. Mary moved from Geddes St. to its present location in 1954, when Bishop Ryan officially opened a new two classroom school on Irving St.. 1974 brought St. Mary’s first round of renovations. The construction added two new classrooms, a gymnasium, staff room, kitchen and storage facilities. While this was a great improvement, over time the population of Elora continued to grow, and eventually the staff and students found themselves in need of more space. In 2000, the second major addition to St. Mary was completed with the construction of six new classrooms, a library, a new staffroom, resource rooms, renovations to the existing school, and the addition of air conditioning. When the new St. Mary opened in the fall of 2001 the little school that started with only 40 students in 1872 had grown to a healthy 290 students.

Mission Statement

St. Mary Catholic School strives to create an atmosphere that is Christ-centred and rooted in scriptures. Our guiding principles are the gospel values of compassion, justice, and love of neighbour.

We strive to nourish a sense of dignity and self-worth within each child, provide an equality of opportunity for all students, encourage the pursuit of excellence in all endeavours, and promote life-long learning to become productive Catholic citizens.

School Bell Schedule