About Us

Yesterday and Today

 

Our Mother of Sorrows School (OMS) church was founded in 1852, and the school was founded in 1878. The school, which originally served European immigrants, was located in the basement of the church and staffed by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.  As the parish grew, so did the school, which eventually expanded to include over 1,500 students.  The facility grew to include a three story school, a gymnasium behind the convent, a day nursery, and a high school that later became St. Thomas Moore High School.  OMS is called the “Mother Church of West Philadelphia” because of the important role it has served, and continues to serve, in the region’s development.

 

St. Ignatius School (SI) was founded in 1893 as a German parish.  In 1926 it was designated as one of four parishes to serve the African American community of Philadelphia by Cardinal Dougherty (SI is the only one of the four parishes still open.). St. Katharine Drexel and her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament founded the school the same year. The original school was on the third story of St. Ignatius Church, and moved across the street to a larger facility including a full scale gymnasium in 1967.  Today, SI is the last of St. Katharine Drexel’s missions left open in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

 

Since 1976, both schools’ admission policies opened to welcome all children, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. In 2006 the schools created a single administrative team called the St. Katharine Drexel Project (SKDP.) The SKDP has allowed both schools to reap the benefits of a large combined student body, including reduced administrative costs and shared specialized facilities, while maintaining the individual schools’ spirit and community.

 

The schools’ combined enrollment for the 2007-2008 school year is 355 students. 98% of students are African American (with a few students of African or Caribbean descent,) 20% Catholic, and families in the area have a median income $19,359. Pastor Joseph Okonski, principal Sr. Owen Bonner, SSJ, and Vice Principal Rosemary Haenn compose the school’s administrative team.

Mission Statement

The mission of St. Ignatius and Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Schools is to provide a Christ-centered quality education, to foster a spirit of inquiry and intellectual growth and to prepare children to meet the challenges of the 21st Century in a healthy, safe and caring environment.

 

We continue to develop and implement programs centered around science, technology and humanities.

 

We create opportunities for prayer, service, and extra curricular activities within the school and broader community to develop the whole child.

 

Our teachers, by example and instruction, help students to integrate beliefs, values and the practice of faith within everyday living.

 

We respect and celebrate the unique gifts of our students, families, faculty and staff.