Page 20 - Priorities #69

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1955-56
• Father Egon arrives.
• The Gilson Ranch, eighteen acres, purchased for site of Woodside Priory School and King Saint Stephen’s Monastery.
1956-57
• Father Egon celebrates the first Mass at Woodside Priory, in the small ranch house, on the feast day of St. Martin, patron saint of Pannonhalma.
• Fathers Leopold, Christopher, Emod, Stanley, Benignus and Achilles arrive.
• Socialite Suzanne Eyre recruits eminent landscape architect Thomas Church and with her volunteers begin landscaping the Priory grounds.
• First classrooms built, still in use today.
1957-58
• Father Emod Brunner is appointed acting headmaster for the school year. • Woodside Priory School opens with fourteen students.
1958-59
• Father Egon Javor is headmaster from 1958 to 1960.
• First dormitory completed.
1959-60
• A small temporary office from the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital construction site arrives to house the Jackling rare books. This building moved about and changed roles many times.
• New chapel and more classrooms are added.
• Father Pius arrives.
1970-71
• Two new facilities added, the Carlton Lee Briggs Science Center and the 12,000 volume Pannonhalma Library.
• Students build the Stephen T. Kalman baseball field.
1971-72
• Father Charles Schilly is headmaster from 1971 to 1974. • The Gambetta Gymnasium and Athletic Center dedicated.
1973-74
• Seventh and eighth grades added to Woodside Priory School.
• Dr. Otto Van Hapsburg, head of the Austrian House of Hapsburg, speaks at the Priory.
1974-75
• Father Christopher Hites is headmaster from 1974 to 1978.
1975-76
• Priory merges with Saint Anselm Abbey in Manchester, New Hampshire. • Saint Anselm sends four monks, including Father Martin Mager.
1976-77
• The varsity soccer team is undefeated in 20 matches, and it wins the Bay Counties League (BAC) Championship.
1977-78
• Priory celebrates its 20th anniversary.
• New Olympic-size swimming pool dedicated.
1978-79
• Father Jude Gray becomes headmaster.
• Sixteen members of the Benedictine community are living in the monastery. Ten are members of the faculty, along with 17 lay teachers.
• Church Square, the courtyard outside of the science complex, is dedicated. Around the corner, a fountain is dedicated to Mrs. Eyre and her Landscaping Committee.
1979-80
• Father Simon O’Donnell becomes headmaster.
• Woodside Priory School has grown to 200 students.
• Varsity baseball team wins the Bay Area Conference.
1980-81
• Father John Fortin becomes headmaster.
1981-82
• Father Simon O’Donnell becomes headmaster.
• The expanded Chapel is built. Father Martin builds the pews.
• The Priory receives its first seven computers; a donation from the Atari Corporation.
• First Auction held.
60th ANNIVERSARY