History
While the cornerstone of our present-day structure was laid in 1921, the origin story of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School dates all the way back to September of 1882, when the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish rectory was converted into a school and convent.
The second floor of the building was used as a convent, and the first floor as a school, with 130 students under the instruction of four Sisters of Mercy. In January 1892, a devastating fire caused the school and convent to shutter their doors, and 30 years would pass before the school would reopen to the community.
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In 1921, in an effort to provide the children of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish with a parochial education, Father William Blake, the parish’s longest serving pastor, purchased a lot on Ruane Street and began construction on a three-story brick school building.
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As the Fairfield community rapidly grew, so did the school’s population. From 1953-1956 the school saw its first physical expansion, with the addition of eight rooms.
In 1974, St. Thomas welcomed its first kindergarten class, and in 1978 the Sisters of Mercy transferred authority to the school’s first lay principal. A Pre-K program was added in the mid-1980’s as well as an after-school program to accommodate working families. In 2002, the school saw its largest expansion yet, with the construction of the Parish Center, which houses our present-day gymnasium and additional middle school classrooms.
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The spirit of sportsmanship has played an important role in shaping the St. Thomas community, dating back to the debut of our basketball program in the late 1950s.
Fellowship and excellence have been the hallmarks of St. Thomas' athletics program since the beginning, from parent volunteers ironing uniforms to alumni students running the scoreboard. Over the years, we have had many legendary and longstanding coaches committed to the tradition and spirit of basketball at St. Thomas including Gerry Cohane (coach, 1960-1973) and Dave Sullivan (former student and coach, 1980-2010).
Many records have been broken, playing initially as the St. Thomas Black Knights and then as the St. Thomas Wildcats, with a number of Diocesan Championships as well as over 10 New England Championships. In the last three St. Sebastian Diocesan Basketball League Playoffs (2023, 2024 and 2025), St. Thomas has had three of the four teams in the playoffs.
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As time marches on, uniforms change and trends evolve, one thing remains steadfast at St. Thomas—our commitment to faith, family and foundation. These timeless values continue to serve as the cornerstone of our school community.
St. Thomas alumni share stories and memories of school, sports and shenanigans…
I was on the baseball team and all of our games were played at Seaside Park in Bridgeport. Father Blake would drive all nine of us in his old gray Packard, holding up traffic on Fairfield Ave the entire trip. In my graduating class, we won the parochial league championship.
Roy Erwin
Class of 1945
At the end of 2nd grade we took a field trip to Compo Beach. Our "homework" for the day was to bring a spoon with us. At the end of the trip, Miss Mascolino (now Mrs. Pierson) presented us with a big container full of all different kinds of ice cream with every kind of topping. We all got to dig in with the spoons we'd brought from home.
Carrie Lett
Class of 1997
Our class made a time capsule with letters and memorabilia in it and buried it by the pine trees next to the school. We were supposed to dig it up in ten years. It’s probably still there. We were always looking for tunnels that supposedly ran under the school, but never found them.
John Wilson
Class of 1989
One year the entire St. Thomas basketball team was given the Sportsmanship Award for good attitude instead of only one player. The Shehan Center had also named six players as their "Boy of the Year." It's a prestigious award given to an athlete (Greenwich to Hartford) who has good grades and is also a good player and person.
David SullivanClass of 1971