With a steady increase in enrollment combined with strong parental and parish support, St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School (2 St. Mary’s Hill) in Lancaster will open a second campus in September 2026. The former Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic School (129 Laverack Ave.) will welcome sixth, seventh, and eighth graders while the current school will be home to grades Pre K through five.

    As part of the realignment of Catholic schools in Lancaster and Depew, the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School (OLBS) building will no longer be used. Families currently enrolled at OLBS have been invited to an open house at St. Mary’s and will be warmly welcomed into the St. Mary’s School Community.

“The new campus at Our Lady of Pompeii will allow us to create age-appropriate learning environments and provide the space necessary to support continued enrollment growth at St. Mary’s,” said Superintendent of Schools Joleen Dimitroff. “An additional benefit of utilizing the Our Lady of Pompeii building is its close proximity to St. Mary’s High School. This presents exciting opportunities for creative staffing and innovative programming, including the potential for advanced coursework and enriched academic experiences for our 7th and 8th grade students.”

St. Mary’s enrollment currently stands at 360 (Pre-K 4 through 8). OLBS has 75 students in Pre-K through 4. 

A Transition Team has been established to thoughtfully guide the process of bringing the two school communities together. The team will work to honor the traditions, cultures, and strengths of both St. Mary’s Elementary School and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School, while building a unified and welcoming school community.

“We recognize this news may bring mixed emotions to current and past OLBS students and their families,” Dimitroff said. “Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School holds a rich history grounded in faith, service, and the dedication of its families, faculty, and parish leadership. That legacy will continue through our students as they carry these values forward.”