Standing before more than 500 parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in January 1944, the Rev. Walter J. Lyddy announced plans to open a new parochial school next to the church. Lyddy’s announcement, made during a banquet dinner celebrating the parish’s 50th anniversary, was met with enthusiastic applause from parishioners, who saw the new school as “another long step in the perfection of their parish,” according to newspaper archives.

At the time, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was the last Roman Catholic parish in the city to open its own parochial school. Lyddy, described as a zealous and ambitious leader, saw opening the school as one of his “most cherished aspirations,” archive stories said. Our Lady of Mount Carmel School opened its doors later that year in the former Nathan Hale School building on Lewis Avenue, next to the church on Goodwill Avenue.