Immaculate Conception Church and School

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH BEGINNINGS

In 1927, new home buyers were promised a Catholic parish, and on May 10, 1938, Immaculate Conception parish was formed by The Most Rev. John T. McNicholas, O.P., Archbishop of Cincinnati, eleven years after that promise to homebuyers.  Originally formed from St. Mary parish in 1913, St. Anthony Parish was divided, and 300 families formed the nucleus of this new parish.  Rev. John Rauscher, S.M., was appointed the first pastor.  

On June 15, 1938, a store building at the corner of Watervliet Ave and Smithville Rd was leased by the parish to be used as a temporary church.  

On August 6, the remodeled store building was blessed by The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Charles Ertel, pastor of Holy Family Church in Dayton.  One half of the building was used as a church; the other half was divided into a sacristy, rectory and meeting room.

On May 31, 1939, the temporary church building was purchased by the parish.  Extensive remodeling took place, and the entire building was converted to a church.  The parish purchased a house at 2377 S. Smithville Rd which was used as the rectory.

In keeping with the tradition of the archdiocese, a parish school would be built before the permanent church building was built.  Ground was broken on June 8, 1939. 

Everyone anxiously awaited the opening of the new school.  The children looked forward to a short walk to school instead of a two-mile walk, riding the streetcar or rarely being driven by parents. As children of the parish were traveling by street cars to attend St. Anthony and Holy Angels schools, the parish moved quickly to establish the Immaculate Conception School.  

Two parcels of land totaling 8 acres were purchased on the east side of Smithville Road, two blocks north of  Watervliet Avenue.  The groundbreaking took place on June 8, 1939 with Father Rauscher turning the first shovel of dirt.  

Five Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur arrived on August 20, 1940 to serve as teachers.  Sister Mary Celine Vonder Haar, SND was the first principal of the school and Mother Superior of the convent.  She also taught the combined 7th and 8th grades.  Uniforms for the girls were navy princess-style jumpers with a white blouse.  The fabric and Butterwick patterns were stocked at Kennett’s Department Store.  Boys wore dark pants and collared shirts.

On the first day of school on September 3, 1940, 190 students entered its doors.  There were four classrooms with two grades to each one.  Eleven students comprised the first graduating class on June 1, 1941. 

Enrollment continued to grow with four additional temporary classrooms created in the basement.  With the United States joining World War II on December 7, additional building was prohibited.  Sister Mary Celine suggested to Father Rauscher that split sessions could alleviate the overcrowding of additional students.  The fall of 1941 saw double sessions become a reality.  The morning session was from 8:00 to 12:45; the afternoon session was from 12:45 to 5:05.  On January 4, 1949, five additional classrooms were built on the second floor of the building; on April 18, 1949, ground was broken for an additional 8 classrooms north of the school.  On September 6, 1950, there were 20 classrooms and full days for all students.  The class of 1950 had spent their entire 8 years in double sessions.  In 1957, another 8 classrooms and an auditorium/gym was built and labeled the Junior-High Department.

Father Rauscher was the first leader of the Immaculate Conception church and school starting in 1937.