The Irene Dunne Site
Cedar Grove Academy
by Clara W. Mattingly
When Cedar Grove is mentioned, many happy memories pervade my being as attending Cedar Grove was a happy way of acquiring knowledge, and the nuns who taught there were so patient and kind. I recall Sisters Synphrosia, Karsina, Alstegon, Mary Loretto, Mary Edith, Editha, Faustina, Appolonia.
Sister Karsina taught German and I studied if for a short while but did not like its harsh sound. Sister Synphrosia was my favorite teacher and my class-mate said I was her pet. I attended Cedar Grove for three years, and I recall the gold wheat and grapevine pattern painted on the fronts of the side altars.
We made our First Holy Communion at the Church of Our Lady, across from our school, and which still stands at 35th and Rudd and is in a good state of repair...
The nuns at Cedar Grove taught us to be courteous and never to cross our knees...
Cedar Grove's sign above the main entry also read "St. Benedict's Academy." Stone steps run up to the two main offices and beneath them was a door opening into the cloak room, where all of us hung our coats and hats. Sister Appolonia was very tiny and she had a small room off the cloak room where she sold home-made taffy, neufchatels (made from neufchatel cheese and milk, as in France) and big sour pickels for 5 cents each. The neufchatels were coated in either a pink of white cooked icing and the filling was similar to caramel.
There was a sheltered walk leading to the other end of the block occupied by the school, and it had an outdoor room there that had a semicircle of seats. That was our old time toilet and it was kept clean. Also, a study hall was on the north side and we day scholars ate our lunch there...
There were so many trees on the grounds and we used to bury ourselves under the autumn leaves. There was an upper level about even with the second floor, and a short bridge to it, and there stood a brick house for any visiting priest, for we had no chaplain.
Sister Aldegon used to play ball with us, using a baseball-sized rubber ball.
It was in 1896,1897 and 1898 that I attended Cedar Grove. Some years after I left there a laboratory was installed and the taught chemistry in addition to their regular courses...