by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, September 9, 2022.
In 1932, Clifton Towle, the Superintendent of Exeter’s schools, wrote, “We shall be faced soon with a redistricting of our school areas and with a consolidation of our system made necessary by the opening of St. Michael’s Parochial School which will remove one hundred sixty pupils from our first four grades.”
St. Michael Parish was established in Exeter in 1859 to serve the growing Catholic population. Although public education was free and available to all children in town, new immigrants from Ireland and Quebec were troubled by the Protestant environment of the schools. Mornings began with readings from the King James Bible, which was not the version used by Catholics. Similarly, the Protestant version of the Lord’s Prayer was different from the one recited during weekly mass. By the 1920s, the parochial (or parish) school movement had taken hold in the country. Led by Reverend Daniel Cotter, who arrived in Exeter in 1919, the school was ready to open in September of 1932.
Parochial schools kept costs down by utilizing teaching sisters as staff. The teachers hired for St. Michael were from the Sisters of Mercy. The 1934 teaching staff, according to the Portsmouth Herald assigned the following: “Sister Zita of Boston, Mass., is to have the Fifth grade. Sister Ernest is to teach the Second grade, replacing Sister Bernarda, who has been transferred to Dover. Sister Beatrice will teach the First grade, Sister Ernestine the Third grade, the Superior, Sister Lucia, will teach the Sixth grade, and Sister Edith will teach the Fourth grade.” Class size was large, with teachers often in charge of upwards of thirty students. At the end of the school day, the exhausted Sisters retired to their own home just behind the school. On entering the convent, Sisters took vows of poverty chastity and obedience. Most orders were either teaching orders or nursing orders. In 1951, responsibility for the school was turned over to the Sisters of Notre Dame.
Things changed with the arrival of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Uniforms were phased in a navy-blue jumper for girls and blue or navy pants and a tie for the boys. Bursting at the seams now that the school taught students through the eighth grade, the building was expanded in 1960. Tuition was shared between the parish and parents – roughly $100 per family. The town extended basic health screenings and services to the students at St Michaels, and some of the kids got to ride the town school busses. That, for a long time, was the extent of town support. There were arguments on both sides to providing funding to the private school. These were, by and large, town children whose parents paid town taxes. However, St Michael was definitely a private religious school so public support was kept to the bare minimum. Physical education was not mandated, so other than recess, there was none. Vicki Lukas remembers, “We just chased each other around the playground.”
A shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary was erected in 1952 between the school and the convent. Made of stone and concrete, the grotto served as the site of annual May devotional celebrations for the parish. Students were heavily involved in these events.
The post-war baby boom had swelled school attendance, but costs were rising as the 1960s ended. There were fewer young women joining the religious life as other opportunities were available to them. Lay teachers were needed to cover classes – and they required higher salaries. By 1970, the school was in trouble financially. The State of New Hampshire investigated the problems (and costs) of the parochial school system through the Nonpublic School Study Commission. A work-around was created called ‘dual enrollment.’ If the schools were local day schools, the State would pick up funding for lay teachers, thus taking some of the financial burden from the parish. Exeter voters agreed to the plan in 1971. However, it wasn’t enough to keep the school going. Funding fell far short of what was needed. St. Michael School announced it would close at the end of classes in 1972. The town now faced bringing over two hundred elementary students into the public school system. Voters approved purchasing the school building, which was well equipped, and it re-opened in September as ‘Main Street School.’
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org.
Image: St Michael Parochial School on Main Street in Exeter was opened 90 years ago, September, 1932. The school educated Catholic elementary school students until its closure in 1972.