History
During the 1940s and 1950s, the Archdiocese of Boston witnessed a phenomenal growth of Catholic schools, during which St. Pius V School was founded. The motivating slogan was: "Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School." As Catholics struggled to find and take their place in society, the Catholic School system grew as an educational institution that was meant to nurture the faith and graduate competent, well-educated young Catholic men and women.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph founded St. Pius V School in 1945 in cooperation with the Parish of St. Pius V. Initially there were just two grades. Toward the end of the 1940s, the school moved into a vacant public school on Maple Street, formerly known as the Sanborne School. The present school on Bowler Street was built in 1959 and evolved into a double-graded school from pre-kindergarten through grade 8.
Like all Catholic schools, St. Pius V was affected by societal changes in the 1960s and 1970s. Large numbers of sisters exited religious life. Lay men and lay women began to replace the sisters as teachers and staff. Tuition costs increased resulting in fewer Catholic families applying for places in Catholic schools. St. Pius V was made up largely of working class families. As the population of the greater Lynn area has changed, St. Pius V has also changed by becoming more diverse. The school maintains its status as a parish school, but now draws students from the surrounding towns and cities as well as the city of Lynn.
By the 1980s, while the leadership of the school rested upon the Sisters of Saint Joseph, over 80 percent of the faculty consisted of lay people. In 2000, St. Pius V School welcomed its first lay principal. The committed lay faculty works tirelessly to strengthen its curriculum and broaden its offerings to meet the needs of its students. St. Pius V School continues to carry on the traditions of The Sisters of St. Joseph by providing consistent and continuous growth in fundamental skills while employing innovations, which are aligned with the school's mission. Most of all, the school remains unique in its common mission with the Church by promoting a simple translation of the Law of Love, "Do your best, and be kind to one another."