St. Gregory Separate School
The parish of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church can be traced back to the 1840s when the first church was built. Throughout the years, the parish expanded over time with improvements taken in place, such as church enlargements, building of a separate school, presbytery, stable and driving house, and aesthetic improvements.
St. Gregory’s Separate School first opened in 1859. In the 1870s, it was enlarged and included a belfry.
By the early 1910s, another expansion of the school was necessary, and a new school was built to the south of the church. It was a modern, two storey, red brick structure with four class rooms on the first floor, a well equipped auditorium on the second floor, and the basement could serve as play rooms in inclement weather. The old school was demolished when the new one was completed.
Less than two decades later, this new school was renovated and expanded, giving the school a total of 10 classrooms. The windows and entrance were changed, new classrooms built, and an auditorium to accomodate 500 was added.
St. Gregory’s would remain the only Catholic school in Oshawa until Holy Cross was constructed in the 1930s. Both schools, which were linked to churches of the same names, were administered by the Separate School Board.
In 1952, St. Gregory’s, along with Holy Cross, opened an additional classroom as well as a kindergarten classroom for the first time at which 40 students would be accommodated. It was announced that 70 new students would attend each of these Separate Schools.
In 2008, after the school’s 149th year of service, St. Gregory’s closed. At the time of its closure, it was one of Oshawa’s smallest and oldest Catholic schools.
In 2013, the building was used by University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Durham College as the CCC, also known as the Campus Childcare Centre, serving students and staff, as well as local families. This site was ideal as it’s a relative midpoint between the university’s north campus and the downtown Oshawa locations.
In December 2022, a Montessori school began using the building.
With information from:
Oshawa Museum Blog, accessed via: https://oshawamuseum.wordpress.com/2021/05/14/a-look-at-the-history-of-st-gregorys/
Discover Historic Oshawa, Oshawa Museum, accessed via: http://discoverhistoricoshawa.com/listings/st-gregory-the-great-roman-catholic-church
Olive French’s unpublished manuscript, accessed via: https://olivefrench.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/st-gregory-roman-catholic-school-1871-1920
J Douglass Ross, Education in Oshawa, 161-164, inset between pages 156-157.
Oshawa Daily Times, 11 Jan 1928, p. 1, 3.
“149-year old Catholic school closes its doors,” Oshawa This Week, June 26, 2008, accessed via: https://www.durhamregion.com/news/149-year-old-catholic-school-closes-its-doors/article_c9f48d8c-a3f5-548a-b7b8-8e01fa3d22c6.html
CT Family Learning Centre & Montessori School Inc., accessed via: https://www.ctfamilymontessori.com/
Ontario Tech University, accessed via: https://news.ontariotechu.ca/archives/2013/10/campus-childcare-centre-serves-up-thanksgiving-meal,-opens-new-location.php
Daily Times-Gazette, 28 Aug 1952, p. 3
The Oshawa Times, 20 Nov 1958, p. 3
Daily Times-Gazette, 29 Aug 1951, p. 24
Oshawa Daily Times, 10 Oct 1927, p. 1
