Timeline
July 11, 1874: John & Mary K. Noonan conveyed 2 acres of land described by metes and bounds in the Jesus Ortiz Survey to Bishop C.M DuBois of the Catholic Diocese of Galveston with the plat included in the deed. The Academy of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was then built on this land at corner of West Collin Street and North 18th Street. It opened on September 7, 1874.
October 8, 1874: Bishop C.M. DuBuis of the Catholic Diocese of Galveston came to Corsicana to visit his new parish and school.
August 30, 1879: Groundbreaking began for a new school to be built across 18th Street from the church. The cornerstone was laid by Rt. Rev. Bishop Dufal, Coadjutor to Bishop DuBois with Father Spillard of Austin.
1905: The original school was closed due to a lack of support.
1909: Part of the church grounds were sold by the Bishop of Dallas to the Corsicana Independent School District. Sam Houston Elementary School was built on this location.
1927: Father Graffeo was named Monsignor by the Holy Father, Pope Pius XI. He was driven to create a parochial school once again for the children of the parish. A dream shared by his friend and parishioner, James L. Collins, a prosperous independent oil man. Upon Mr. Collins’ death, a portion of his estate was bequeathed to Immaculate Conception Church to build and operate a school.
January & February, 1954: The Trustees of the Estate of James L. Collins conveyed 22 acres of land in three tracts to Bishop Thomas Gorman, Coadjutor Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth as described by metes and bounds in separate deeds for the purposes of building new church facilities.
December 8, 1954: The Sisters of Charity of The Incarnate Word of Houston agreed to staff the new school. Eventually, The Sisters of Saint Francis replaced the Sisters of Charity of The Incarnate Word along with lay personnel staffing the school.
January 30, 1955: Ground breaking occurred for the new Church of Immaculate Conception, James L. Collins Catholic School, the convent and the rectory. During these years of building and developing, Monsignor Graffeo became ill and parish responsibilities were taken on by Father Robert C. Rehkemper. Also assisting in the ground breaking were Asst. Pastor, Father Rehkemper. Trustees under the will of James L. Collins, Mrs. J.F. Stein, president of the Altar Society and C. B. Harrison, president of the Parish Council of Men.
October 1955: The Mother’s Club was organized and in the late 60’s became the Parent Teacher Club “to bring about intelligent cooperation of parents and teachers in providing the spiritual, physical, mental and social training of the child. Mrs. A.L. Grizzaffi was the first Mothers’ Club president.
January, 1956: School classes that had been meeting temporarily in the old church were moved to the new school building for the first time.
August 23, 1959: A new addition was made to the school with three classrooms, a library, storage, office space, athletic equipment and restrooms under a $101,000 building program. This new addition was dedicated by Bishop Gorman.
May 10, 1965: A tornado struck the parish plant knocking down a decorative wall at the front gate and the school building suffering some water damage. Children had already left the school and no one was injured.
May, 1975: Dr. Joseph McNally, Sr., chaired a building committee for the expansion of the school which included a resource center, science laboratory, classrooms, offices and enlargement of the cafeteria. Catholic schools in the Diocese of Dallas, under the direction of Sister Caroleen Hensgen, Superintendent of Schools, were forming school boards and James L. Collins organized theirs under Dr. Joseph McNally, Sr. as first president. Kindergarten classes were also added to the school.
January 7, 1979: Ground was broken for a gymnasium for the school children and parish hall for social activities. The parish hall-gymnasium was dedicated at a cost of $272,897 in March, 1980. Bishop Tschoepe was on hand to bless the structure.
May, 1981: James L. Collins School became a contract school. From 1981-1983, David Penque, a parishioner, served as the school’s only lay principal up to that time. Mr. David Penque replaced Sister Honora.
September, 1984: A Texas Historical marker was dedicated to James L. Collins in front of James L. Collins Catholic School by Bishop Tschoepe along with Corsicana Independent School District, Corsicana City and Navarro County officials.
May, 1985: The Sisters of Charity of Incarnate Word of Houston could no longer staff the school after 30 years of dedicated service. After a nationwide search, Sister Patricia Gardner, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio was hired. In honor of the Sisters of Charity, Dr. Joseph McNally, Sr. and his family set up a scholarship fund to enable the children of the parish to attend the school.
1987: Extended child care was added to James L. Collins Catholic School.
1989: Pre-kindergarten was added to James L. Collins Catholic School.
July, 1990: Father George Monaghan was assigned as pastor and completed the restorations begun by the Father Flanagan. Also, four classrooms and restrooms were added to James L. Collins Catholic School at a cost of $215,000.
Summer, 2000: The convent for the Sisters of St. Francis was repurposed for badly needed church office space. It was determined that staffing of the parochial school could no longer be provided by religious orders and was totally administered by lay personnel. Mr. Phil Riley became the principal and served until 2008.
July, 2008: Ms. Jessica Starek was hired as the principal to replace Mr. Riley.
July, 2013: Mrs. Renee Ozier began as the principal.
July, 2016: Mrs. Vicky Morrison began as the principal.
June - August, 2021: The gymnasium's roof was replaced and the kitchen and bathrooms were renovated. Mrs. Lisa Hoyer was hired as the principal in July 2021.
Fall 2023: Through the generosity of grants the school was able to renovate our prayer garden and add a rosary walking path. Additionally, we completely renovated both the large and pre-k playground. We opened up our new STEM SmartLab at the start of the school year and we also were able to renovate our cafeteria and elementary hallway with new floors, lighting, paint, and stage curtains.
Fall 2025: Mrs. Laura Whiteside was hired as our new principal. We purchased new kitchen appliances through the Koch Foundation.
Spring 2025: The school was able to replace windows in the middle school hallways. The old basketball court was renovated and we began to build the new multi-purpose court at the playground. A sound system was added to the gymnasium.
Summer 2025: The school will replace the entire gymnasium roof and corrected gutter issues.
Researched by: Dan E. Williams, parishioner
Last update: May 7, 2021
Acknowledgements; Special thanks to Deacon Lewis Palos, Marge Hensley, Charley Smith, Martha Phillips, Dee Schriefer, Michael Schroeder and many other parishioners for their input.