Building the School
Once the site was settled upon, Dr. Kirby arranged for an architect to draw up plans for a combination church-school building. In May of 1926, when the plans had been completed and contractors' bids received, Dr Kirby wrote to the bishop asking permission to begin construction of the the church/school. He had been very thorough in his preparation except for one minor detail- the money. The estimated cost of the building was $141,000 and so far the parish had not raised any of it. The Bishop replied that unless he received pledges of at least half of the total, and cash donations of one-third the total cost, he could not in good conscience allow the parish to assume such a large financial burden. "Put this matter squarely before your people," the bishop told him, "and I am sure their sense of Catholic loyalty will stand behind you."
The Bishop's confidence was not in vain, and on August 15th of that year the cornerstone of the school building was laid by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph F. Smith, Vicar General of the Diocese of Cleveland. Parishioners had assembled at the B.F. Field residence not far from the parish property and, with the uniformed Knights of St. John in the lead, processed to the school for the ceremony.
Holy Cross School opened in November of 1926 with an enrollment of seventy-five students. The faculty consisted of three Ursuline Sisters: Sr. M. St. John (principal), Sr. M. de Sales, and Sr. M. Philip; and one lay woman, Virginia Dougherty. The original structure was only the middle section of the present school building; the plans included a wing on each end that could be added on when the need arose. Once completed, the first floor was to serve as a temporary place of worship until the parish grew enough to support the construction of a permanent church. The building also had four classrooms on the second floor and a social hall in the basement. Two grades shared each classroom- first and second were together, third and fourth, fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth. The school grew quickly, and by 1928 two hundred and fifty students were enrolled. Two more teachers were hired and two additional classrooms were opened in the basement.
With a large construction debt to pay and the growing school to support, fundraising became an important concern. The parish hosted raffles and bazaars to raise money in addition to the weekly offerings. In the late 20s, elegant dinner-dances were held in the downtown Hotel Cleveland to benefit the school. At that time, the monthly operating expenses of the parish were about $1500 and the cost of educating one child was $100 per year. A bimonthly list of contributions to the parish was published that included the name of each giver and the amount of the gift. A message from the pastor on one of the lists reminded parishioners that "everyone should take pride in the sense of knowing that they are trying to fulfill their obligations. In case anyone cannot give what they would like to, we are willing to consider them in the light of those who are contributing generously." But, he also pointed out, "those who refuse to help in any way place a double burden on the others." By 1930, Holy Cross had grown to 310 families- large enough to be assigned its first assistant pastor. Fr. William Rooney arrived from St. Brendan Parish in Youngstown to help Dr. Kirby meet the needs of the growing parish.
