VANCOUVER — This fall, Our Lady of Sorrows School is celebrating a milestone a century in the making: One Hundred Years of Catholic Education in East Vancouver.
The school, opened its doors in 1926, blessed by Archbishop Timothy Casey, with 92 students. It was built alongside the immigrant families, many of them Italian, who were shaping the neighbourhood at the time.
A century later, that bond between school and community has not faded. Several of the school’s graduates have returned to Our Lady of Sorrows School as teachers, staff and leaders, including Anna Minichiello, Lisa Renzullo, Paula Imperadeiro, Fernanda Minichiello, and former Vice Principal Lisa Gabriele. Many alumni are scattered throughout the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA), shaping the lives of future generations of Catholic students. Their story began in the same classrooms and hallways where they once sat.
The school’s growth over a century reflects the evolving community it serves. Anne Coulombe, the school’s first lay principal, led Our Lady of Sorrows from 1970 to 2005. During her tenure, she introduced kindergarten, language programming, parent education and inclusive education support that shaped the school for decades.
In 2001, the parish’s Hispanic Catholic Mission was integrated into the community. Today, the parish serves families in three distinctive languages: English, Italian and Spanish. The school continues to reflect the charism of the Fathers of St. Charles (Scalabrinians), who have been serving the community since 1960.
That story of community and belonging continues under current principal Pasquale Balletta, whose own family immigrated from Italy in 1963. Balletta joined Our Lady Sorrows Parish youth group in 1980. Twenty-five years later, Balletta returned as the school’s first male principal. His journey also demonstrates a personal echo of the very immigrant community that Our Lady of Sorrows Parish was founded to serve.
“I’m very impressed that any institution that lasts 100 years can still be relevant today as it was in the past,” Balletta said. “We have been blessed, due to our community’s deep-rooted faith and it’s love for it’s greater school and parish community.”
To mark the centennial, the school community is gathering for a 100th-anniversary gala Nov. 21 at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver. The evening will include dinner, dancing and a chance for generations of the Our Lady of Sorrows community, former students, staff and families, to celebrate together.
During the gala, the school will present its new plan to add a second kindergarten class in 2027-2028, as it prepares for a new double-stream school and for the next century of excellence in Catholic education in East Vancouver.
A hundred years after a blessing and 92 students, Our Lady of Sorrows School stands as a reminder of what Catholic education looks like when a school and its community grow together.
Honey Mathew is the digital communications coordinator for the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA).
