Many years ago, Claremont was a part of the vast San Gabriel Mission.
Following the Edict of Secularization in 1834, Spanish missionaries from nearby La Verne served the Catholic population of the area. In 1934, the formation of the community that would become Our Lady of the Assumption Parish began with the construction of the Sacred Heart Chapel at the corner of what is now First Street and Claremont Boulevard.
In 1945, Father Tanyanne was sent to Claremont to lay out the groundwork for establishing a parish, which was finally accomplished in 1947 by Father John Rengers. In 1948, the site of the present church at the corner of Berkeley
Avenue and Bonita Avenue was purchased, and Father Donald Strange, who served as Pastor for almost fifteen years, replaced Father Rengers. Construction of the church was completed in the fall of 1950. The parish community experienced considerable growth in the early fifties with an influx of management, professional, and academic personnel because of the development of aerospace and manufacturing industries as well as the several local colleges. Father Strange lost no time in building a school and securing the Benedictine Sisters to staff it. In 1955, Our Lady of the Assumption School opened its doors to 200 children in Grades one through six. The following year, two more grades were added, completing the eight grades, with a total enrollment of 285 students. Very soon thereafter, the parish auditorium was completed, creating space for meeting and large group events for both parish and school.
In 1963, Father William Barry became Pastor, and very soon the school facilities were expanded with construction of the Berkeley Building, doubling the school's capacity. Enrollment reached 630 students in 1965. At this time, the Benedictine Sisters withdrew from the school and were replaced by the Felician Sisters who, along with a large lay faculty, continued to staff the school until 1996. A Parish School Board was formed in 1972 to facilitate a closer relationship between the school and the broader OLA and Claremont communities as well as to assist in the financial development of the school. A decline in enrollment in the 1970s necessitated closing several classrooms, but the 1980s saw the enrollment increasing again. In 1987, the two-story building which houses the Kindergarten on the first floor and the faculty room on the second floor was built. The first Kindergarten classes were opened that year. In 1994, an expansion of facilities for parish meeting and classroom space was built, including a computer lab, religious education offices, and multi-purpose rooms.
In 1994, Monsignor William Barry retired and Father Thomas Welbers was appointed Pastor. He continued the tradition of active interest and support for the school for the next 15 years. In 2009, Father Charles Ramirez was assigned to Our Lady of the Assumption. The first lay Principal was hired in 1996 with an all lay faculty and staff. Continuing the legacy and building upon the solid foundations laid by the religious sisters, Our Lady of the Assumption School has enjoyed renewed growth and stability into the twenty first century with solid academic and financial development under each subsequent administration supported by well-qualified and committed faculty and staff.
The first decade of the 21st century saw significant investment in the use of technology for teaching and learning. In 2007 (again in 2015), recognizing the need to respond to the challenges of the technological advances, and thanks to the very successful fundraising of the PFA, the school was able to completely update the Computer Lab, as well as equipping most of the classrooms with new interactive hardware and supportive software.
The 2005 accreditation Action Plan, major goal, was accomplished in 2008 when the Kindergarten program was expanded to offer full time placement. This program is now an established and critical part of the school. Responding to the wealth of research indicating early childhood development, in 2012, the school opened a Junior (transitional) Kindergarten.
The OLA community worked together to launch our first ever Strategic Planning Process in August of 2014. The committee was comprised of faculty, administration, alumni, community representatives, parents, and parishioners. Catholic School Management led this process establishing goals, objectives, and an action plan. The official Strategic Plan will be published during the 20172018 school year giving clear direction for the OLA Consultative School Board. This significant achievement coincides with the celebrations for the school's 60th anniversary.
The 2015-2016 school focused on the celebration of the 60th anniversary and continued advancements on the strategic plan and the OLA Consultative School Board. OLA was awarded the C3: Ignite Grant from Sprint and the Los Angeles Archdiocese Department of Catholic Schools, which included150 iPads with ongoing professional development to be installed in the 2017-2018 school year. The teachers attended a series of professional development sessions on core instructional practices. The school celebrated their first CYO championship game and placed 2nd place in girls basketball. In the last three years, the OLA community was able to raise sufficient funds to update the school library and advance the technology access for all students. The library remodel and technical upgrades began at the end of the 2015-2016 school year.
The 2016-2017 school year was a remarkable year with many shining moments for our school and community. The OLA school parents, students, faculty, and staff prepared and successfully completed our WASC/WCEA accreditation review with "highly effective" marks. The school is again, fully accredited through June of 2023. The sports program, once again boasts of CYO championships, this time in boys soccer and second place in girls soccer, a first in OLA history. The campus underwent renovations in the "old library", now the Felician Room, to make a more useful space for the daycare homework room and additional meeting space for the school and parish. The Los Angeles Archdiocese C3:ignite program brought 150 iPads to the hands of teachers and students.
The 2017-2018 school year brought our sports program to another high point with girls and boys soccer again playing in the CYO championship game, as well as, the track team. The PFA continues to work hard with bringing families together and providing fundraising to the school academic programs. This year the funds will be used to upgrade the technological needs of the classrooms. The parish capital campaign construction will begin this summer and should be completed in the 2018-2019 school year. The school safety committee continues to grow and is adding a parish safety committee as well.
From 2018-2020, OLA School has welcomed a newly renovated church! The collaborative efforts of the parish community have been demonstrated in the accomplishment of this project. The school students were honored to celebrate the opening of the school year Mass on August 15, 2019, the Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption.
The 2019-2020 school year brought unprecedented times at OLA. The global Covid-19 pandemic brought all of OLA students and staff to be working and learning from home. All schools in the state of California were closed and moved to a distance learning model overnight in March 2020. The determination, stamina, faith, and community bonds allowed OLA to thrive in difficult times. The 2020-2021 school year began in the distance learning model. We began bringing students back gradually, starting with the youngest and those students who were struggling most. Classrooms were set up to maximize distance, students were masked, and handwashing and use of hand sanitisers were required throughout the days. Some students remained distance learning while others were in class! teachers used their skills to be adrees all their students in this 'hybrid' instructional model through the end of the year. All events were managed with safety and social distancing as Los Angeles County Department of Health continued to require specific protocols and restrictions. Drive throughs became common for picking up and drop off of materials. OLA was able to ensure all students had a device - either a laptop or iPad. These were difficult and distressing times for all. Enrollment fell to 312 as families experienced layoffs and long term unemployment. the school was able to apply for Paycheck Protection Program funding from the fderal government, securing $658,000 so that no teacher or support staff member was let go from OLA over these years.
The year 2021-22, enrollment rebounded and we began with 356 students. With the support of Fr, Charles and the OLA finance council, we were able to maintain our full staffing to support our students learning neds, as the students had to rcover from these years of disrupted and interrupted learning. Throughout the year, we had students and teachers contracting the disease and having to isolate and quarantine, most especially in between Christmas through to Easter. Daily reports were submitted to the LA Department of Public Heath, close contacts had be identified and to quaranitine. Teachers and student resumed the 'hybrid' model of home-based and school based student working simultaneously!
